WB Govt sets up museum to promote ‘Kantha’ and puppetry

WB Govt sets up museum to promote ‘Kantha’ and puppetry

Posted on September 30, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

The West Bengal government dedicated a museum to showcase state’s rich art of ‘kantha’ (embroidery) and puppetry, besides reflecting upon its tribal heritage by allocating a section on ‘ethnography.’

Housed at the Cultural Research Institute (CRI) complex in Kankurgachi area, a combined museum with three sections were launched yesterday by state Backward Classes Welfare Minister Upendra Nath Biswas.

The puppet section displays work on relevant social themes by about 20 contemporary puppeteers, belonging to backward class, from three districts – Nadia, West Midnapore and South 24 Parganas.

30 contemporary artisans from Birbhum district used century-old design patterns to showcase their work of art at ‘kantha’ (embroidery design) section of the museum.

The CRI ethnographic museum has been revived by introducing enhanced decoration techniques.

This museum has put on display nearly 500 composite types of ethnographic specimens to offer a panoramic view of the state’s tribal lifestyle. Most of them are bio-degradable thus needing more attention and specialised care.

The minister also inaugurated a three-day workshop on ‘Arts of Banga: An Ethnological Heritage Re-Appraisal 2015’ on puppetry, ‘kantha’ and woodwork.

A book titled ‘Banger Kantha’ (‘kanthas’ of Bengal) – highlighting the rich heritage of ‘kantha’ designs in the state was launched.

The book is a pictorial depiction of many beautiful embroidery works of Bengal over the ages.: An Ethnological Heritage Re-Appraisal 2015′ on puppetry, ‘kantha’ and woodwork.

A book titled ‘Banger Kantha’ (‘kanthas’ of Bengal) – highlighting the rich heritage of ‘kantha’ designs in the state was launched.

The book is a pictorial depiction of many beautiful embroidery works of Bengal over the ages.

Kolkata Police performing their duty diligently: WB CM

Posted on September 19, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Friday lauded the Kolkata Police for their “good performance” saying the force was carrying out their duties quite diligently.

Mamata Banerjee, also the Police Minister, was speaking at the Investiture Ceremony of the Kolkata Police held at the Netaji Indoor Stadium this evening.

She said earlier the forces’ job was limited to arresting, which nowadays has expanded beyond many things starting from managing crowds during the Durga Pujas to being present at sporting events and entertainment programmes, besides looking after regular law and order of the city.

“With changing time and lifestyle, crime has also changed its character adding to the duties of the police personnel. They are doing a very good job and we must give them their proper recognition,” she said.

WB CM inaugurated the new Santiniketan Police Station in Birbhum district at the programme and said in the last four years of her government in the state, 91 new police stations have been set up out of which 21 came up in the Kolkata Police limits.

“We have set up 30 women police stations and ten more have been sanctioned today… So there will be 40 women police stations. We have set up eight coastal police stations and five police stations for cyber crime. We have also set up 88 fast track courts, including 45 courts for women and 19 human rights court,” the Chief Minister said.

“Self-assessed” property tax in Kolkata from next year

Posted on September 17, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

A property owner in the city will get the option of adopting the Unit Area Assessment (UAA) method of valuation from next April along with the existing method of determining property tax.

Kolkata Municipal Corporation officials believe the UAA system will make tax collection transparent, tax-paying easier and generate more revenue.

After the new method is introduced, corporation inspectors will not visit the taxpayers’ properties as they do now. Instead, taxpayers will make a self-assessment of their properties and fill in a self-declaration form sent by KMC.

The corporation will only charge 10% of the annual valuation of the property , which will be revised every six years, as property tax. This is applicable only if there are no additions or alterations of the property between two assessment years.

If owners make alterations to the property, they have to mention it in the form. If someone tries to hide it, there will be a high penalty, sources said. KMC will also send an objection form where a tax payer can argue against the existing tax rate.

Those who accept a flat 10% hike on annual valuation will be sent a re vised tax bill. Assessees who have made changes to their premises will be sent a fresh tax bill based on their declarations.

And those who disagree will have to submit the objection form that will then go to KMC assessment department for special hearing.

First published in The Times of India, 17.09.2015

Bengal Govt plans to launch mono rail in New Town

Posted on September 16, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

The state government is planning to introduce mono rail in New Town and to connect it with Metro Rail to improve transport system in the city, said State Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim.

The minister said this while announcing that Kolkata has joined the league of “C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group”, which is a global network of cities tackling climate change and driving urban action that reduces both green house gas emission and climate risks.

He said that this was a huge opportunity for the city and would open new avenues for Kolkata to develop it as a modern city.

He added that since this was a huge opportunity to interact with experts from other global cities to upgrade civic facilities, the state government would focus more on upgrading the city’s transport system.

“The state government is keen to revive the entire transport system. As part of this initiative we are planning to introduce mono rail in Salta Lake Sector-V and New Town. The idea is to connect the mono rail with the Metro Rail so that people can enjoy a world class transport system,” the minister said.

“The planning is there and we are in the process of implementing the project. We have to wait a little bit as the population of New Town is yet to achieve its potential. For the survival of such projects there needs to be enough users,” Firhad Hakim added.

The image is a representative one

West Bengal to celebrate International Literacy Day in a big way

Posted on September 8, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

The West Bengal Government is celebrating the International Literacy Day in a big way.

A procession is being taken out at 10:30 AM from the base-ground of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi, Esplanande to Rabindra Sadan. The main function will be held at Rabindra Sadan, 12 Noon onward.

State Education Minister Partha Chatterjee will inaugurate the programme. West Bengal Science & Technology and Bio-technology Minister Rabiranjan Chatterjee and Mass Education and Library Service Minister Janab Abdul Karim Chowdhury will be present at the event.

The theme of International Literacy Day 2015 is Literacy and Sustainable Societies. Literacy is a key driver for sustainable development. Literacy skills are the prerequisite for the learning of a broader set of knowledge, skills, attitudes and values, required for creating sustainable societies. At the same time, progress in areas of sustainable development, such as health and agriculture, serves as an enabling factor in the promotion of literacy and literate environments.

WB CM assures help to Bengali film industry

Posted on September 3, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Six top cine personalities met West Bengal Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee at Nabanna on Wednesday and requested the Government to intervene so that movie-making becomes more viable in the state.

At Wednesday’s meeting, the Tolly brigade comprising Goutam Ghose, Prosenjit, Dev , Jisshu Sengupta, Srijit Mukherji and Raj Chakraborty expressed concern over rampant closure of theatres in Bengal. The number of releases is increasing every week but there are not enough theatres to screen them. This is leaving little breathing space for movie-makers to earn revenue. The film industry will suffer unless something is done about it, the Chief Minister was informed.

The need for Government intervention to restore old halls by offering incentives was also discusses. It was requested about possibilities if the Government can provide incentives to hall owners.

The meeting drew attention to the immediate need for Government to offer incentives to hall owners who are on the brink of downing their shutters.

KMC takes a step towards cleaner city

Posted on September 3, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

In a bid to make Kolkata cleaner, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation has decided to dispose of garbage from the entire city through the modern compactor method.

The State has now sanctioned a special fund for the modernization of the solid waste management scheme. In fact, buoyed by the success of the first phase of the project, even Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee has herself taken keen interest in funding the plan as Kolkata is now being perceived as a cleaner city . With assurance from the State, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation now plans to set up 19 more compactor stations and buy movable compactor machines for areas where the civic body has failed to get land for the stations.

The places where the compactor stations will be set up include Park Circus, NRS Medical College, Esplanade bus terminus, Kalighat temple, Bowbazar, Surjya Sen Street and Naktala. Stations at New Alipore, Golf Club Road and Bondel Road are already built but awaiting inauguration.

Debabrata Majumdar, member, mayor-in-council overseeing the KMC solid waste management department, said the compactor stations and movable compactors reduced the dependence on trucks carrying waste to the Dhapa dumping ground. “Once the project is fully implemented, we hope to get rid of all big vats, which dirty the roads with garbage spilling out, and the rickety trucks that carry waste to Dhapa,” the MMiC said.

In the first phase, the KMC solid waste management department built 43 compactor stations, the first one being set up near the Kalighat tram depot, followed by another one on Southern Avenue.

Inspired by the success of the two stations, the KMC built 42 more such stations. But the civic body had to put on hold the garbage disposal modernization programme for want of funds. The KMC was apparently shocked to find there was no provision for modernization of garbage disposal as the Centre refused to finance it under JNNURM. Before the civic polls last year, the KMC had approached the state to set up compactor stations and the money has finally been sanctioned.

Needy kids get WB Govt help for costly implant

Posted on September 2, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

The parents of Anwesha, who was born hearing-and-speech impaired, have been running from pillar to post for their only daughter’s treatment for more than four years. When speech therapy for over two years did not work on the six-year old, doctors advised a cochlear implant.

Unable to arrange the fund, her parents had almost given up when they got a call from the doctors of the ENT department of the Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research (IPGMER), saying they would conduct the implant free of cost.

Anwesha, along with three other children, will get cochlear implant free of cost on September 4 at the IPGMER.

Scheme for the needy

The ENT department at IPGMER has been chosen as the Centre of Excellence and the referral center for the state under the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Deafness by the ministry of health. Accordingly , the ministry will provide the implant while IPGMER will conduct tests, chose the patients, provide hospitalization and facilitate the transplant.

“The scheme will be a huge relief for poor parents who cannot afford the cost of the transplant. The MoU on this was signed only 26 days ago. IPGMER director who took charge recently was very keen and hence we could proceed this fast. All the four children have been admitted on Tuesday to prepare for the implant,“ said ENT head Arunabha Sengupta.

Eligibility for the scheme

To be eligible for the scheme, family income of the patient should be Rs 15,000 and below and heshe should have disability certificate from the concerned authority . The upper age limit for a child with pre-lingual deafness (where the child is born with a congenital condition or lost hearing at infancy) is 6 years of age while for those with post-lingual deafness it is 12 years. The child should not have any other underlying health problem.

The speech therapy after the transplant will be taken care of by the National Institute for Hearing Handicapped, Bonhooghly .

WB Govt to sell onions at fair price shops

Posted on August 24, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

In the wake of a steep rise in the price of onion, the state government has decided to sell onion at Rs.50 per kg at 49 government-run outlets in the city and on its outskirts. Soon, onions at fair price will be made available in the district markets.

The decision was taken at a meeting held by state agriculture marketing minister Arup Roy with the traders. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had directed traders to crack down on illegal hoarders. She also asked the task force to visit markets to ensure that people are not charged exorbitantly.

Roy said that one would be able to buy 500g packet of onion at the cost of Rs.25 per day from the government outlets.

The procedure of selling onions at fixed rate from earmarked stalls will continue till prices ease. Of the 49 outlets, 24 stalls are run by agriculture marketing department and the remaining by horticulture department.

State ID hospital to have new world-standard isolation ward

Posted on August 20, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

A new isolation ward, that will have all that it requires to shut out patients with such fast-spreading diseases as ebola, swine flu and MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) from the outside world, is coming up at the state-run Infectious Diseases (ID) Hospital in Beliaghata.

The ward will also have a designated area where patients who have died from such deadly viruses as ebola can be cremated so that there’s no chance of the disease spreading. Relatives will be allowed to perform the last rites donning protective gear as mandated by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The new 30-bed isolation ward would come up on the ground floor of the main hospital building. This ward will be compliant with all WHO guidelines for the treatment of swine flu, ebola and MERS patients.

The state government has already sanctioned Rs 65 lakh for civil construction work. Each patient admitted to this ward will have a separate toilet. Doctors and nurses on duty will have the requisite gear and separate rooms for acclimatization.