Fire license fees reduced by 92%

The Bangla Government has announced its decision to reduce the fire license fees by about 92 per cent. This decision was announced by the Finance and Industry Minister, Dr Amit Mitra recently.

The minister said that during the administrative review meetings held across the State, small and medium-scale business-owners had been requesting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for reducing the mandatory fire license fees to make it easier for them to set up their businesses.

Mamata Banerjee kept her word, and now the fees have been reduced by approximately 92 per cent, in comparison to the last fee structure that was decided in 2017. And the reduction has been across all categories of buildings. This decision was taken after a detailed meeting with the Fire and Disaster Services Department.

There are four categories of fees:

Buildings above 14.5 metres (m) in height (including residential complexes, dharamsalas, educational institutions, art galleries, libraries and museums): Reduced from Rs 53.80 per sq m or Rs 25,000, whichever is higher, to Rs 4.35 per sq m – reduction of 91.91%

5,000 sq m buildings (hospitals, nursing homes, resorts and guest houses): Reduced from Rs 80.70 per sq m or Rs 30,000, whichever is higher, to Rs 6.52 per sq m – reduction of 91.92%

Ports, airports, terminals, shopping complexes, offices and market areas: Reduced from Rs 107.60 per sq m or Rs 50,000, whichever is higher, to Rs 8.70 per sq m – reduction of 91.91%

Hazardous buildings like godowns and warehouses: Reduced from Rs 161.40 per sq m or Rs 1 lakh, whichever is higher, to Rs 13.05 per sq m- reduction of 91.91%

Rs 5,522 cr to be invested in Bangla, over 1 lakh to get jobs

Over the next two years, an amount of Rs 5,522 crore would be invested in Bangla, leading to the creation of more than one lakh direct and indirect jobs.

This was stated by the State Finance Minister, Dr Amit Mitra, during an address at a session organised by the CII.

He said that despite demonetisation and the hurried implementation of the GST, which were two massive blunders of the BJP-led Central Government, Bangla has been doing comparatively better under the leadership of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee,.

While the GDP growth rate of the country has come down to as low as 5 per cent, the GSDP growth rate of Bangla has touched 12.58 per cent. Then, in Ease of Doing Business (EODB), Bangla stands at the second position among the states.

Durga Pujo theme song, penned by Didi, launched

Religion is personal but festivals are universal – this is the underlying theme of the song written by Mamata Banerjee’s theme for Suruchi Sangha Club on the occasion of Durga Pujo. This is the fifth consecutive year that she has penned the Durga Pujo theme song.

The song was released on September 28, on the occasion of the auspicious day of Mahalaya. The song is part of an album of songs, sung by Shreya Ghoshal and composed by Jeet Ganguli. A video was also published, featuring Parambrata and Nusrat Jahan, and directed by Sujit Mukherji.

Durga Pujo festival goes beyond the barriers of religion, caste or age, and is one which brings unfettered happiness in every household. The festival brings people together in a great celebration – this is the underlying message of the lyrics.

Didi starts inaugurating Durga Pujos

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee started inaugurating Durga Pujos of Kolkata from yesterday. She started with Hatibagan Sarbajanin, followed by Chaltabagan Lohapatty and Hindustan Club, the last one being in south Kolkata.

Since yesterday was the start of Debipaksha, she did not light lamps during the inaugurations but instead placed flowers at the foot of the Goddess in an innovative approach this year.

Every year after becoming chief minister, Mamata Banerjee has made it a point to inaugurate Durga Pujos across the city. The requests for her to do so from pujo committees are never-ending, and she tries her best to launch as many pujos as possible.

 

Didi to launch Jago Bangla festive edition today

Didi will launch the festival edition of Jago Bangla today. She will launch the magazine in the presence of several prominent personalities in the cultural field.

Like every year, this year’s edition too has the main article written by Mamata Banerjee. The other articles are authored by prominent Trinamool politicians and writers.

It will be available both online, on the Trinamool Congress website, as well as in print form.

Song album Mati by Mamata Banerjee to be released before Durga Pujo

A collection of Bengali songs written and composed by Mamata Banerjee, titled Mati, is slated to be released before Durga Pujo. This is the first time that a collection of songs, written and composed by Mamata Banerjee, will be released. All the seven songs in the CD have been sung by star singers.

The songs are ‘Pahar kande sabuj kande’, ‘Mati aamar moner foshol’, ‘Akash tumi bristi dile’, ‘Mago tomar bhalobasae’, ‘Iki uki buki hamba hamba ho’, ‘De dol dol’ and ‘Chhilo ekta chhotto meye’.

Mamata Banerjee has always been drawn towards the concept of ‘mati’ or Mother Earth and has written several poems on conservation of earth and nature. She has also declared July 12 as Save Water, Save Life Day.

Source: Millennium Post

 

9 new spots identified by State Heritage Commission

The State Heritage Department has identified nine new heritage spots across the State. This is a big step towards preserving the rich heritage of Bangla that is centuries old, and in turn promoting tourism.

The nine are:

* Shivshakti Annapurna Temple, Barrackpore
* Brahmamoyee Kali Mata Temple, Hooghly district
* Stuart Saheb’s (indigo planter’s) bungalow (nilkuthi), Barrackpore
* St Bartholomew’s Cathedral, Barrackpore
* Krishna Bhabini Nari Siksha Mandir, Chandannagar (school)
* Prabartak Sangha headquarters, Chandannagar
* Nandalal Bhar’s house, Chandannagar
* Commonwealth War Grave Cemetery, Bhawanipore, Kolkata
* Deb Sahitya Kutir’s headquarters, College Street, Kolkata

Special measures would be taken to maintain these and make them more popular among tourists, both domestic and international.

State Govt training homestay owners

In an effort to make homestays more popular, the Bangla Government recently organised a two-day training session in Darjeeling for owners of homestays.

The State Tourism Minister inaugurated the training. He announced that such training sessions would henceforth be held two to three times a year. He also asked the homestays to register with the State Government so that they were able to get all the facilities provided by the State.

Representatives of 287 homestays from Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts participated in the training. Among the issues tackled during the training were adequate supply of drinking water, cleanliness, environment-friendly facilities (creating a plastic-free environment, etc), adequate power supply, stable Wi-Fi facilities in the rooms, transportation facilities for tourists and others.

Tourism festival to be held in North Bengal this winter

For the first time, the State Government will organise a tourism festival this winter in North Bengal. It will showcase the local traditions, cultures as well as offbeat destinations.The project was approved recently by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

The details of the festival were outlined by the Tourism Minister. The festival will be held every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from November 15 to December 21.

The first edition will be held at the offbeat destinations of Meteli, Gajoldoba (Jalpaiguri district) Rajabhatkhawa (Alipurduar district), Sitong (Darjeeling district), Pedong (Kalimpong district) and Talidighi (Dakshin Dinajpur district).

The festival will lay stress on low-cost homestays, resorts, Swiss tents as well as local art products, cultural performances, jungle safaris and travelling to various locations (at Jayanti Forest, Chilapata, Buxa Fort, etc.), bird-watching, adventure sports, activities around bonfires at campsites and of course, gastronomical experiences. The venues will host blog writers, tourism experts and celebrities during the course of the festival.

Importantly, the festival will be an eco-friendly, plastic-free event. Medical support and ambulances will also be present at the venues. Pick-ups from and drops to the local airport and railway stations will be available. Token memorabilia will also be given to the tourists.

Each venue we will have accommodation for around 125 guests, of whom 25 will be accommodated in tents and the remaining 100 in home stays, on twin-sharing basis. Guests will be charged Rs 1,250 per person per day.

The State Government has allotted a budget of around Rs 2 crores. Booking for the festival can be made online through the WBTDC website and the official portals of the districts.

State Govt to tap several avenues of tourism aggressively

The Bangla Government is focussed on tapping the tourism potential of the State in the travel and tourism market. The 35th Annual Convention of the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) was recently held in Kolkata where efforts to this end were made.

Since the city has changed significantly in the last 10 years, the Government plans to showcase the new face of Kolkata as a ‘hub city’. This would in turn generate interest in tourism all over the State.

The State Tourism Department is also planning to have a new slogan, ‘Ocean to the Sky’ in order to promote the diversity of Bangla.

Bangla offers a number of tourism circuits, and the State Government is at present trying to actively push heritage tourism by involving private tour operators.

The south-western part of the State provides a nice circuit for wilderness and adventure tourism via rivers, hills and forests. The Dooars also provides a great opportunity for tourism. The entire stretch from Kolkata to Durgapur-Asansol provides excellent opportunities for business and recreational trips.

For the promotion of cultural tourism, the Tourism Department plans to promote and encourage several festivals celebrated in Bangla including Durga Puja in October, followed by Kali Puja (Diwali), the Kolkata International Film festival in November, the Kolkata Christmas Carnival in December and the Sangeet Mela in January.

The tourism department is also planning to organise a River Festival in January for which an MoU has been signed with the British Council and the UK Government.

Apart from these, the Department is also focussed on promoting the State’s cuisines in a huge way.

Regarding cruise tourism, which is growing for the past five to six years, the Tourism Department plans to take on two more vessels, adding to the already existing four, along with two houseboat-type vessels which can be used for meetings. Besides in Kolkata, houseboats would also be floated on water bodies in Mukutmanipur and Chandannagar.