The State Government is organising a mango festival in Kolkata called Bengal Mango Utsav. It will start today at New Town Mela Ground, and will continue till June 10.
The Food Processing Industries and Horticulture Department is organising this festival, in collaboration with Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC). The entry to the festival is free. Another important fact is that this is a plastic-free event, in line with the Bengal Government’s initiatives on creating awareness about the environment.
The festival will host an exhibition on exotic varieties of mango and mango products from the various districts of Bengal. Of course, one can buy the articles on display as well.
The exhibition will be held from 4 PM to 8 PM today (June 8) and from 11 AM to 8 PM on June 9 and 10.
Another attraction at the festival will be a cooking competition, revolving around mangoes, which will be held on June 9 from 3 PM.
Soon, Haringhata Meat, a unit of the State Government’s West Bengal Livestock Development Corporation (WBLSDC), would be selling ready-to-eat turkey kebab. A 250 gram pack would cost Rs 180.
Turkey meat is very healthy as well as tasty, but is not widely available. Hence, the decision to sell packaged kebabs was taken.
For the last few months, WBLSDC, through its Kaviar chain of takeaway meat shops, has been selling dressed turkey meat, priced at Rs 510 per kilogram.
The kebab packs would be sold at the 10 outlets of Haringhata Meat as well as in 240 other outlets across the State. They would also be available online at Big Basket and Delybazar, with whom Haringhata Meat has agreements.
In Bengal, turkey is raised mostly in the districts of North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Nadia, Purba Medinipur, Paschim Medinipur and Hooghly.
Like every year, National President of Trinamool Youth Congress, and Diamond Harbour MP, Abhishek Banerjee on Tuesday released a booklet containing details of all the work done by him his constituency for the last four years. The book-release ceremony was held at Sarisha school grounds in South 24 Parganas.
Speaking on the occasion, Abhishek Banerjee said that the people of the country showed the yellow card to BJP in bypolls. They will show the red card in 2019. He claimed that Trinamool will win all 42 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal.
He also said, “BJP is trying to blame Trinamool for the death of its workers. Five doctors said that the death was due to suicide. But BJP is still blaming us. They want to blame Trinamool and Mamata Banerjee for everything under the sun. But in reality, they have blood on their hands. The BJP practices communalism.”
He also advised the BJP to look after their party’s condition in Uttar Pradesh first, before turning their attention to Bengal.
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today chaired a meeting to take stock of the health situation in the State. At the end of the meeting, she expressed her satisfaction with the services provided by doctors, nurses and health workers.
The Chief Minister slammed the Centre for rising prices of life-saving medicines. She said since the Centre has increased the prices, the medicines are unavailable at many places, due to which, common people are suffering.
She also slammed the Centre for the question paper fiasco in NEET. She said, “In this year’s NEET exam, students from our State could not perform well because of problems in translation. English and Bengali papers were different. They are not giving priority to regional needs. Students who speak the local language are thus getting disadvantaged. We have already written to the Centre on this issue.”
Treatment at hospitals in Bengal is given free of cost. There has been a sea-change in the infrastructure of hospitals. Fair price medicine shops and diagnostic centres have been set up. Procedures like dialysis are performed at lower costs. Pacemakers and stents are given for free.
As a result, patients from neighbouring States and countries are coming to Bengal in large numbers, thus increasing the pressure on State hospitals. 27,000 new beds have been added.
The CM urged doctors to provide service with a smile. She also instructed the administration to prevent untoward incidents of vandalism and violence at hospitals in the State.
The West Bengal Biodiversity Board (WBBB) has three primary objectives: conservation of biodiversity, sustainable use of biodiversity, and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the biodiversity, in addition to establishment of proprietary rights and restraining bio-piracy.
Some of the major achievements of WBBB are as follows:
Facilitating constitution of 350 Biodiversity Management Committees (BMC) at block, municipality and municipal corporation levels; more are in the offing
Through the BMCs, constitution of 120 People’s Biodiversity Registers (PBR) for documentation of biodiversity and associated traditional knowledge and practices; more are being constituted
Documentation of traditional rice varieties (TRV) and registering them in the names of farmers’ communities; so far, 110 TRVs have been documented, of which 12 have been registered 51 have been applied for
Awareness generation programmes, including seminars, nature studies and field training, and special ‘bio tours’ for school students
Bringing commercial establishments accessing bio-resources from the State under the purview of ‘Access and Benefit Sharing’ of the Biological Diversity Act; so far, 100 commercial establishments brought under purview, and 15 of the shared benefits, amounting to Rs 13,39,193, accumulated in the Biodiversity Fund of the State Government
Publications: 10 field guide books in Bengali, Tradable Bioresources of West Bengal, three People’s Biodiversity Registers (PBR) preparation manuals in BengaliSource: Departmental Budget
On Wednesday, May 30, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee held an administrative review meeting of Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts. Emphasising on the development roadmap, the Chief Minister advised the state government authorities in Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts to focus on the water supply, sewerage, construction and upkeep of roads and waste management.
Speaking at the administrative review meeting of the two districts in Kalimpong, she said: “Darjeeling and Kalimpong have immense potential. There is unmatched natural beauty here. It is your duty to present a clean and green Darjeeling to the tourists who visit these places. For the next two years, we should concentrate on four key areas — water, sewerage, roads and waste management.”
She asked the GTA and Hill Municipalities to sit with the Municipal and PHE departments in Kolkata during the next 10 days and work out a consolidated plan to resolve the drinking water crisis in the Hills.
She also insisted that henceforth funds for construction of houses of the beneficiaries through the 15 development boards should go directly to their bank accounts in two instalments. The Chief Minister spoke on the new avenues for employment generation for the youth and stressed on skill development to impart training in beautician courses, hospitality, as tourist guides and in the medical field as well.
Speaking of the immense potential in the field of tourism, she added: “Tourism industry is one of the most important industries of Bengal. We are giving a lot of emphasis to North Bengal as this place has a lot to offer. All projects have to be finished on time.”
She asked the state Tourism department and the GTA to renovate the Swiss Cottages in Mirik. De-siltation of the Mirik Lake, landscaping including gardens and pathways around the area is on the anvil. Inquiring about the progress of work at Tiger Hill, she stated that the gallery needs to be renovated. Around 19 tourist cottages are said to come up at Tiger Hill in Darjeeling.
The Chief Minister also asked the Power department to look into the electricity problems faced by Lava, Loleygaon and Reshyap in the Kalimpong district.
A proposal has also been given for six new police stations in Darjeeling and three in Kalimpong district. A new administrative building is being constructed in Kalimpong as well. Around 2 acre of land has been allotted for the Police Lines and correctional home in Kalimpong. Banerjee also inquired about the 100 day work scheme in Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts.
Around 500 schemes are underway in the Hills currently. Land right documents (pattas) will be handed over to 271 beneficiaries from the forest villages of Kalimpong on Thursday at Lohapool. The CM also inaugurated a number of projects on Thursday.
With the infrastructure being ramped up rapidly by the Trinamool Congress Government, the number tourists visiting Sundarbans has gone up too. The region now sees many more tourists round the year, while earlier tourist arrivals peaked during certain periods only.
With better and more roads, culverts (for channelling water under roads), watchtowers, better protected areas, beach development and other work being done, the mangrove haven has become more attractive. With the hike in tourists, naturally the local economy has also improved. Better means of livelihood are making lives easier for the locals. Things like better roads and rest sheds are a boon for the local people too.
Not just betterment infrastructure, there has been improvement in the system of inclement weather alerts too, which is beneficial to tourists and locals alike.
At the same time, infrastructure for water transport has also been improved. The conditions of the river jetties have been improved. Another step taken for improvement of connectivity is the construction of bridges, linking different islands in the delta.
To draw more tourists, every year, in August and September, the State Government organises the Hilsa Festival there.
The above facts are borne out by both Government officials and tour operators. The latter expressed a lot of hope for tourism during a recent tourism fair organised by the State Government in Kolkata. Among the popular places in the Sundarbans are Gosaba Hamilton Bunglow, Pirkhali, Dobaki Watchtower, Sajnekhali Watchtower, Sudhanyakhali Watchtower among others.
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee yesterday spoke out against the proposed change in the allocation of services to candidates who clear the all-India civil services examination, describing it as “very dangerous”. The examinations are conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
“What I have come to know about the (proposed changes for) civil servants is very dangerous. They (IAS and IPS officers) used to come through the merit list. Now, if you think that whoever will be an IAS or IPS because of a particular recommendation, then don’t you think it is a constitutional crisis?” Mamata Banerjee told reporters.
“It’s a constitutional breakdown,” she said, adding, “There must be a limit to everything.”
The Centre is considering a major change in the allocation of services to the successful candidates in the civil services examination.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has asked the Ministry of Personnel to explore if the allocation of services to the probationers can be done after the completion of the three-month foundation course, according to an official communique. At present, the allocation is done on the basis of the ranks obtained in the civil services examination.
On the occasion of the seventh anniversary of Trinamool coming to power, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee greeted the people Bengal and reiterated her commitment towards working for the betterment of the people.
She posted on her Twitter page: “On May 20, 2011 the first Maa, Mati, Manush Government took oath of office. It has been seven years and we continue to be committed to working for the betterment of the people.”
On May 13, 2011, the people of Bengal gave a historic mandate, ousting the Left Front out of power. Mamata Banerjee took oath as the Chief Minister of Bengal on May 20, 2011 at 1:05 PM. To read more about the historic day, click here.
Shortly before 1 PM, Mamata Banerjee entered the Raj Bhavan. Earlier in the morning, she had visited the Kalighat temple and took blessings of her mother, now late Gayatri Devi. Alighting at the north gate of the Raj Bhavan, she walked in, amidst cheers and slogans from the people waiting outside in thousands.
At 1.05 PM, Mamata Banerjee took oath as the first woman Chief Minister of West Bengal. History was created.
Mamata Banerjee takes oath as Bengal CM
Mamata Banerjee and her cabinet took oath in the presence of some 3,000 people that included her party workers and relatives of the victims of violence in Nandigram and Singur. This has perhaps been one of the most crowded swearing-in ceremonies of a chief minister. Along with her, 35 MLAs from Trinamool Congress took oath as ministers of the two-tier ministry. Four of the Trinamool Congress MLAs were sworn in as Ministers of State.
Mamata Banerjee takes oath
Clad in a simple white sari and wearing a tricolor uttariya (long scarf) that has by now become her trade mark, Mamata Banerjee took the oath in Bengali in the name of God, which was administered by Governor M.K. Narayanan.
Some hours earlier, Ms Banerjee had set off from her humble Harish Chatterjee Street house on a journey to change Bengal`s course. Thousands of supporters had already lined the route she would take to Raj Bhavan, holding puja thalis and blowing conch shells. Many were barefoot, as if had come to worship a deity.
In Ms Banerjee’s para, the atmosphere was Puja-like. When she emerged from the door, wearing a crisp off-white saree with a blue zari border, a chant of “Didi…Didi” went up. Her car was ready to take her to Raj Bhavan, but the Iron Lady of Bengal walked into the crowd, much to the dismay of her bodyguards from the Special Security Unit. She touched as many hands as she could, smiled, and folded her hands in humility. Someone passed her a microphone.
At exactly 12.55 PM, the Chief Minister-in-waiting walked into Raj Bhavan. She greeted Governor M K Narayanan and took the sheet of paper she was to read from.
The historic march from Raj Bhavan to Writers’
Trailed by a sea of supporters, Mamata Banerjee walked the 1 km from Raj Bhavan, where she took oath as the first non-Left Chief Minister in 34 years, to Writers’ Building on Friday, May 20, 2011. Euphoric, swelling crowds — nearly 2.5 lakh — thronged the kilometre-long road to Writers’ Buildings. “Democracy has to be with the people,” she said. “I saw the crowds and asked the governor’s permission to walk to Writers’ Buildings.”
Her first day at Writers’ Building
Bureaucrats and security officers escorted Mamata Banerjee up the same flight of stairs along which she had been dragged down in 1993. In the corridor, she suddenly cut her brisk stride and turned towards a balcony. She stood there for a while and waved to the delirious crowd. A bodyguard swiftly crouched before her, hanging on to the low guard rails to protect her from the mad scramble of photojournalists. With a final wave, Ms Banerjee walked off purposefully to the CM`s chamber. It was 4.44pm.
It was from there that Ms Banerjee had been hauled out 17 years ago. Then a firebrand Congress worker, she had been agitating outside former CM Jyoti Basu’s office, insisting he meet a woman who had been allegedly raped by CPM workers. As the police yanked her out, Banerjee swore to set foot in Writers’ Buildings only after the Left was ousted. On the afternoon of 20 May, she kept her vow.
The first Cabinet Meeting
On her first days as chief minister, the people’s leader broke all protocol. She refused a bullet-proof car, declined the privilege of free passage, instructed police to halt her black car at traffic signals, worked in office until 12.35 AM the day she was sworn in.
People greet Mamata Banerjee on 20 May, 2011
After the swearing-in, Mamata Banerjee chaired her first Cabinet meeting at around 5 PM: Singur topped the agenda, then came her first press conference as CM around 8 PM. Then she sat in her office, allotting ministries to her Cabinet colleagues. The CM left office at 12:35 AM on Saturday.
