Cooperatives to offer interest subsidy for long-term loans to farmers

Cooperatives to offer interest subsidy for long-term loans to farmers

Posted on July 5, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

The Bengal Government has decided to give interest subsidy for long-term loans to farmers from cooperatives.

This was a recent suggestion of the State Level Monitoring Committee for Cooperative Sector, a high-powered committee set up last January to look into the matter of extending banking facilities to more rural areas and into other areas to improve the cooperative sector.

Interest subsidy for short-term loans is already being extended to farmers. Now the same would be given for long-term loans. It will ensure further development of the State in the agriculture sector.

The Trinamool Congress Government has given a new lease of life to the State’s agriculture sector. Decisions like waiving tax on agricultural land and helping farmers with modern tools, and many others, have ensured an increase in the yield of numerous crops, helping the State bag the Central Government’s Krishi Karman Award for five consecutive years.

For the welfare of farmers, old-age pension – to those above 60 years – is being given. The number of recipients was recently decided to be increased, as well as the amount – from 69,000 to 1 lakh, and from Rs 650 to Rs 750 per month to Rs 1,000, respectively.

Source: Millennium Post

Mishti Hub in Newtown to be inaugurated today

Posted on July 5, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

The Bengal Government’s Mishti Hub in Newtown, on the outskirts of Kolkata, will be inaugurated on July 5. It is the only one of its kind in the State, one which will give buyers an opportunity to have sweets made by the best sweet manufacturers of Bengal under one roof.

This is another one of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s ideas coming to fruition. There is a potential market for Bengali sweets both in the country and abroad. The hub will also give an opportunity to tourists who want to carry the famous mouth-watering sweets back home, as it falls en route to the airport.

The Mishti Hub will house 10 popular sweet manufacturing chains of Kolkata, as well as sweet shops from the districts. To maintain quality, it was decided that those opening shops at the hub must have an experience of 25 years or more.

Mishti Hub will remain open from 12 noon to 9 PM. It is located next to the popular spot of Eco Park. There will be a car parking facility for the buyers as well.

Proper signs will be put up on Biswa Bangla Sarani to facilitate the airport-bound buyers. For the residents of Newtown, this hub will enable them to get the best of Kolkata’s sweets at their doorsteps.

The hub has been built on a shop-in-shop concept. The construction of the hub has been done as a combination of tradition and modernity. A central atrium with glass walls will bring the sunlight inside. There is a driveway and a free parking lot for a limited period of 30 minutes.

Source: Millennium Post

KMC to introduce computers in its schools

Posted on June 29, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will soon introduce computer education in its schools. The syllabus in this regard has already been prepared by the Education Department of the civic body.

The Member Mayor-in-Council (MMiC) Education said that the syllabus has been framed in accordance with the computer syllabus of the State primary schools that are run by the West Bengal Board of Primary Education. Also, the syllabus has been prepared in three languages: Hindi, Bengali and English.

The KMC plans to start computer education in nearly 50 schools at first and then proceed further.

Source: Millennium Post

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Bengal Govt plans overhaul of unique Patuli floating market

Posted on June 29, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

The State Government agency, Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) has decided to overhaul the unique floating market in Patuli, adjacent to EM Bypass. A series of changes will be brought about to make the place more accessible. The market has 228 sellers sitting on 114 boats.

The market, the first of its kind in the country, similar to the floating market at Bangkok in Thailand, had started functioning in January this year.

For electricity supply, environment-friendly solar power will be taken recourse to. Solar panels will be installed. The number and arrangements of the lights will be increased too.

Sheds will be constructed for the benefit of the buyers during the monsoon season.

On the request of shoppers, the four zones – for fish, for chicken, mutton and eggs, for vegetables, fruits and flowers, and for grocery and miscellaneous items – will be rearranged so as to place the vegetable and fish zones side-by-side.

The wooden ramps set up on a platform made of sal wood, on which people travel over the surface of the water for shopping in the market, are being repaired with the onset of monsoon.

A toilet will be constructed in an area adjacent to the floating market.

A food court will be constructed on the premises of the floating market, where tea and a variety of snacks will be served at a reasonable price. The market, particularly in the evening, has also already turned into a popular adda zone for the local people.

The seating arrangement in and around the waterbody will also be enhanced, so that people can come and spend time there comfortably.

Two more fountains will be set up in the waterbody.

A waterbody located on the southern side of the floating market will be beautified too.

The Technical Appraisal Committee of KMDA is considering in detail all the proposals. As soon as it finishes that, the construction work will begin.

Source: Millennium Post

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Haringhata Meat to launch chicken chips for the first time in India

Posted on June 29, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

Haringhata Meat, a chain of raw as well as ready-to-eat meat shops under the State Animal Resources Development Department, has decided to introduce chicken pickles and chicken chips.

According to the managing director of Haringhata Meat, this is the first time in Indian that chicken chips will be produced. The machinery for producing the chips is being installed. Production will start after people are trained on how to use them. Chicken pickle is already being produced.

The pickle was launched in June while the chips will be launched around the time of Durga Puja.

These innovation products, said the managing director, will increase the sales of Haringhata Meat manifold. As it is, the brand is steadily gaining popularity. Outlets are being opened both in Kolkata and across the State.

Source: Dainik Jugasankha

Bengal Govt to create madur hub in Kharagpur

Posted on June 28, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

The Bengal Government has decided to create a hub for the madur (traditional mat of Bengal) in Kharagpur in the district of Purba Medinipur. It will be located at Vidyasagar Industrial Park. Rs 6 crore has been set aside for it.

Kharagpur subdivision is specially known for madur. In fact, more than half of the madurs sold in the country come from Sabang block in the subdivision, where every other family is engaged in this craft.

Sabang is the heart of the madur-making industry. Two Karmatirthas have also been set up in Ruinan and Jhikuria in the block where madur-weavers from across the block would be brought to create a permanent market.

Source: News18 Bengali

Electronics manufacturing in Bengal to see a lot of change soon

Posted on June 28, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

Electronics manufacturing in Bengal is going to see a lot of changes soon. According to the State Information Technology and Electronics (IT&E) Minister, the Government is putting a lot of stress on this sector as there is a huge employment potential, with the emergence of automated vehicle, robotics and Internet of Things (IoT) across the globe.

The State is fully prepared to take a lead in this sector in the country. The Government is coming up with two electronics manufacturing clusters (EMC) in Kalyani and Falta. They will be ready within a year.

A 107-acre hardware park is already complete in Sonarpur. It has plug-and-play infrastructure with uninterrupted power supply, round-the-clock potable filtered water and top-class drainage and water supply systems.

Also, there are 12 existing IT parks across the State and the third floor in each of these parks is earmarked for electronics.

The IT Minister gave the above information while speaking at a knowledge-sharing workshop on ‘Embedded Technology’ at the Biswa Bangla Convention Centre on June 15.

Source: Millennium Post

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Bengal Fisheries Dev Corp sets examples for other States

Posted on June 27, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

The Bengal Government’s State Fisheries Development Corporation (SFDC) has created a big impression at the recently-held two-day seminar-cum-fish festival organised by National Fisheries Development Board in Visakhapatnam.

The programme featured technical sessions, an exhibition, a fish festival and a cultural show.

According to the managing director of SFDC, the invitation itself was proof that the fish heritage of Bengal has attracted the attention of the whole country.

The managing director said that delegates were very impressed with the pond-based saline water fish culture that the SFDC has innovated. The fish cultivations are taking place in ponds on Henry’s Island.

At the exhibition, raw as well as cooked fish from the State were exhibited, and they proved very popular among the delegates. SFDC had taken chefs with them who rustled up the famous traditional fish dishes of Bengal.

This was a big step in making the well-known fishes and fish dishes as well as fish technologies of the State famous at a national level.

Over the years, under the patronage of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the fisheries sector in Bengal has taken long strides to become one of the best in the country, at par or even better than the traditionally strong States in the south.

SFDC has also been invited to a meet on July 10 on the occasion of National Fish Farmers’ Day where officials from fish development bodies of various States, scientists, entrepreneurs and about 500 fish farmers from across the country would be present.

Source: The Statesman, Aajkaal

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Bengal Govt planning scientific bus route mapping for Kolkata

Posted on June 27, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

After developing the transport infrastructure in Bengal in a massive way with the introduction of new buses and new routes, the Transport Department has decided to bring in another measure to further improve things.

It has appointed the PSU, RITES for conducting a route optimisation study for Kolkata. Through this, it will be determined how many buses need to run on each of the routes and at what times to serve the maximum number of passengers.

The study is currently undergoing. It would cover the recently introduced night bus services as well.

The Pathadisha app has already brought in a lot of change. People can now know the exact locations of many buses and hence determine how long to wait. The night bus service is another well-thought out idea.

With the results of this study, which is being conducted, a scientific route structure can be mapped out, something followed in many advanced countries.

Source: Ei Samay

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KMC adopts new policy of tree plantation

Posted on June 27, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has adopted a new policy on tree plantation. As part of the policy, trees which do not get uprooted easily during storms would be planted across Kolkata, which include fruit-bearing trees, flower-bearing trees as well as woody trees.

Trees having this specific quality are already present in many places. With the help of this new policy, though, many more such trees would be planted.

According to the new policy, the civic body’s Parks Department will plant arjun, chhatim, bakul, jarul and mahogany, which need comparatively less space too, as well as fruit-bearing trees like mango, jamun, guava, litchi and jamrul, which also help counter pollution.

As part of new tree plantation policy too, in order to conserve Kolkata’s green cover, KMC will be distributing saplings to the citizens for free. The saplings will be sourced from the many nurseries that KMC runs. Any citizen who has enough land in and around the house can approach their concerned borough office and collect saplings.

Source: The Times of India

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