Bihar’s growth should inspire Bengal
| Posted By SubhadeepBIO Total 13 posts | February 23rd, 2010 |
Once termed as the king of ‘cow belt’ and the ‘bimru state’ of India, Bihar after decades of being in the news for wrong reasons has something to cheer about. What seems more out of a Bollywood script than reality, the state once regarded as the most backward in the country has grown at an average of 11.03% in the five-year period between 2004-05 and 2008-09 against a national average of 8.49%. It is second only to one of India’s most developed states Gujarat, which recorded a growth-rate of 11.05%. Now that’s what is called resurgence.
RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav might not agree but Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who assumed power in 2005 finally has figures to prove his success. Nitish has successfully countered the ‘Jungle Raj’ which was going on during his predecessor’s era. Not only the crime rate in the state has come down during his rule but the state has started taking giant steps towards economic development. What’s more remarkable is that the 11.03% growth comes after a negative 5.15 % growth in 2003-04 during the Lalu-Rabri era.
Bihar’s story has the potential to inspire other states in its proximity. One such is its eastern neighbour West Bengal. Once the glittering jewel of Indian industrialisation, West Bengal has also had the same sad story to tell which Bihar was telling five years ago. A wind of political change is blowing across Bengal similar to the one in Bihar five years ago. Three decades of the Left Rule has hampered the image of the state in terms of industrialisation. The once flourishing state has been pushed to the dark ages by a bunch of politicians whose policies were too narrow in thought and did not take into account the fast changing global environment.
Although the Left Front government might have done wonderful deeds with their Land Reforms moment in the earlier part of their rule but on most other indicators they have miserably failed. It is quite a shame for the West Bengal government who calls itself pro-poor pro-farmer to have fared miserably when it came to NREGA. Their trade unionism meant that West Bengal did not figure in the investment map of India. Post the LPG (Liberalisation Privatisation Globalisation) era when the country too giant steps in economic reforms, Bengal Government seemed to have only snored.
Even though West Bengal’s law and order situation hasn’t been as bad as Lalu’s Bihar but it is no better either. In the last three decades Left had made sure that in rural Bengal, police and administration was replaced by its party cadres. Nandigram and Singur showed us the ugly face of the Left hooliganism. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee might have tried his best to revive the image of the state but Bengal’s grave was dug long back by the Left Front.
The people of the State have to leave the pessimism behind and look forward to growth and development. If Bihar can do it under the leadership of Nitish Kumar why cannot Bengal do the same when change finally comes in 2011? Left has been in the power for too long to be trusted any more. Mamata Banerjee and Pranab Mukherjee might just do the turn around story in Bengal. After all if Nitish had to counter ‘Jungle Raj’ Mamata and Pranab will have to encounter ‘Andhera Raj’ that’s what the current regime can be defined as.
Who wants to be a ‘Minister’
| Posted By SubhadeepBIO Total 13 posts | May 26th, 2009 |
Just when the people of the country and the markets were breathing a sigh of relief having voted a stable government there are first sign of trouble. The friction has started even before Manmohan Singh assumes office as the 18th Prime Minister of India. The reason well the most expected one ‘ministerial berths’. After fighting the election as a part of Congress led collation all the UPA partners want a share of the pie.
The DMK is at loggerheads with the Congress over the number of ministries it wants to hold in the Union Cabinet. DMK had demanded as many as 8 Cabinet berths for itself which is unacceptable to the Congress. The Congress is riding on the confidence that it can form a government at the centre without the help of the DMK which need to bow down to save its government in Tamil Nadu which survives on Congress’ support. In a scenario where DMK and Congress part ways Jayalalitha will not waste a minute in holding Congress’ HAND.
Who says Congress alone promotes dynasty politics DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi wanted to have his
son M K Azhagiri, daughter Kanimozhi and grand nephew Dayanadhi Maran in the Union Cabinet which was agreed upon by the Congress. The bone of contention has been the name of TR Baalu former Cabinet minister for Shipping, Road Transport & Highways. The Congress wants to keep him away for his corrupted background.
Sharad Pawar’s dream of becoming the Prime Minister will remain unfulfilled. This time with Rahul making ‘ekla chalo’ as the buzz word in state elections means that the Maratha leader is at the mercy of the Congress. He is likely to hold Food and Agriculture Ministry while his party colleague Praful Patel will get Civil Aviation.
Mamata Banerjee who holds the second largest number of seats in the pre-poll UPA alliance will surely drive the Indian Railways. Lalu Prasad Yadav’s political blunder meant that he isn’t getting anything in ‘Taatkal’ and most likely he isn’t even a part of the ‘Waiting List’. For the first time Congress and TMC believe Left can be defeated in West Bengal so it won’t be surprising if more if goodies are showered upon the MPs from the state with Pranab Mukherjee already getting Finance.
Other partners like the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference, Kerala Congress and the Indian Union Muslim League will have to take whatever elder brother Congress gives them. With the kind of numbers Congress has this time its allies unless united together won’t be able to blackmail it anymore. Gone are the Karats, Lalus and Paswans of Manmohan’s previous government. The Singh is King finally!
Pranab da should bring goodies to Bengal
| Posted By SubhadeepBIO Total 13 posts | May 26th, 2009 |
For the better part of the last three decades politicians from West Bengal have occupied the opposition benches in the Lok Sabha. The Left Front MPs time and again failed to grab developmental projects by the Centre. What that meant was Bengal remained aloof from the national race to become a global superpower from a third world nation. When the Karunanidhis, Modis, Naidus and the Krishnas were grabbing huge pies from the Centre politicians from Bengal lived up to tag of being OPPOSITION in every sense.
As the country went ahead post liberalisation era Bengal was living in the dark shadows of poverty and underdevelopment. This resulted in huge brain drain out of the state which cost dearly so much so that once the most flourishing province in the days of the British Raj is today counted among the most backward states in the country. Although most of the Bengali ‘bhadralok’ like us would not like to accept this in open but deep down in our heart we cannot even counter it.
The results of the 15th Lok Sabha polls brought in a lot of surprise to the state. The writing on the wall was clear and the people of the state decided Bengal’s car at the Centre won’t have a Left Hand Drive for the next five years. Manmohan’s new Cabinet team will have a record number of representations from the state with Congress’ all weather man Pranab Mukherjee will hold the key portfolio of Finance and Left’s thorn in the flesh Mamata sitting in the engine of the Indian Railways.
The people of the Bengal and surrounding areas in the East and North East will hope to get some special attention from Pranab da. Let us be honest Central Ministers have always showered goodies on their own states holding key portfolios be it the Lalus and Nitish Kumars making Bihar and unofficial hub of Indian Railways or the Naidus and Marans driving lion’s share of the Telecom and Information Technology revolution down south.
The entire Eastern part of the country including the North East has remained backward due to poor representation at the corridors of power. But with Pranab’s command over the Finance the people of Bengal finally have something to rejoice. They hope the UPA government to shower some goodies to the state keeping in mind the assembly elections of 2011. If West Bengal flourishes the tremors of development will reach other neighbouring states as well.
The only worry is the whether the Left will play the role of a responsible opposition at the Centre and speed up development being in the driver’s seat in West Bengal. They have to do a lot of rethinking more so with their ideology. They have to shed their Anti-Americanism and become pro-development in their approach. The problem with them is they oppose the increase in the price of American soft drinks but keep mum when Russia blackmails us to pay them $2 billion dollars after the agreement was signed for $500 million dollars for the Aircraft Carried Admiral Ghroshkov.
It is now over to Pranab Mukherjee and Mamata’s Trinamool to assure the people of Bengal that they really voted for a change. All of us can hope some winds of change will finally blows in West Bengal.
Has Bengal had enough of Left?
| Posted By SubhadeepBIO Total 13 posts | May 26th, 2009 |
The results of the 15th Lok Sabha polls hasn’t been too surprising but in the context of West Bengal ’shocking’ is the word. The Left was expected to perform badly but nobody thought they would crumble in the manner they did. Not even the worst of the political critics of the Left Front could have predicted this just about two years ago. Mamata’s ‘Maa Maati Manush’ appealed to the people and they did the unimaginable.
The Left parties are finding it tough to understand what went wrong for them. How could a fortified structure they had created in three decades fall like a pack of cards in three years since the violence in Nandigram? From the urban middle class to the Muslims everybody voted against them. They even lost credibility among the rural masses once their stronghold thanks to the mishandling of the Singur and Nandigram crisis.
What was surprising was to see the Trinamool Congress win in most of the urban constituencies and doing a clean sweep of Kolkata. Many would have believed this to be impossible after the dissent that the urban Kolkata had with Mamata Banerjee after she chased away the prestigious Tata Nano project from the state. Many people believed West Bengal did not even have a choice to throw the Left out after the Nano mess.
The thing that went against Left was the consolidation of votes. The urban voter especially the youth always felt let down by the Left rule voted against it. Combined with the Muslim and the rural electorates it formed a lethal combination against the Left. As for the Red Front it was left with votes from their supporters who believed in their ideology and its a known fact that this group is shrinking.
Although the Left leaders may be pointing fingers at Prakash Karat for this humiliation the actual reason for their defeat was within Bengal. The truth is a person in rural Bengal doesn’t even know who Prakash Karat is and doesn’t care what is his stand on the nuclear deal or about his ego issue with Manmohan Singh. The fact is this person only cares about his basics which was being threatened by the Left as was evident in Singur and Nandigram.
The violence in Nandigram exposed the ugly face of Left. People in the rural belt who always considered the Left Front as a saviour suddenly felt threatened with there sentinels. The cadre based strong local units that the Left had created over decades and which won them election after election lost the trust of the common man and led to its debacle.
Ironically with 35 seats in 2004 Left had delivered its best performance in the state. In a matter of just five years tide seems to have blown in the opposite direction in West Bengal. The 2011 Assembly elections will give a better picture whether a obituary for the Left can be written or this election was an one off incident. But one thing has surely changed, the myth that ‘Left cannot be defeated in West Bengal’
Kolkata Knight Riders hit by racism row
| Posted By SubhadeepBIO Total 13 posts | May 26th, 2009 |
Kolkata Knight Riders cannot win. This seems to be the statement which is the talk of the town in the cultural capital of India. If the multiple captain theory, more than needed media promotion and the fake IPL player blog wasn’t enough now we have the worst thing imaginable in sports RACIAL ABUSE. All this is taking a toll on the performance of the team and the loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore just about an hour ago has proved that this team has lost the self belief of that they can win a match.
As far as the racial abuse case is concerned it is nothing new to the sport. Any sub-continent player of the yesteryears will tell you what they faced it on the ground regularly. Let us not talk about the apartheid as it is a completely different issue. In the recent years racism has considerable reduced due to ICC’s strict code of conduct. Also because of the fact that the focus of the game shifted to sub-continent from its colonial master’s country. The players from the sub-continent started giving it back in the last two decades or so.
The revelations by former Indian cricketer Ajay Jadeja about Indian players being racially abused have shocked many. It is not that people weren’t aware of black-white divide in the team but racism was too much for the people of Indian let alone Kolkata to digest. When an Indian player of international repute (most likely Ajit Agarkar) is being racially abused by the coach and the supporting staff what will be the state of the uncapped Bengal players in the team.
The thing most hurting is that this is happening in what is called as the INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE. Just because the league has moved out of India have the white man got their chance to racially abuse us? How can some coach or support staff who is employed by an Indian racially abuse an Indian or a person from any other origin for the matter? May be the dropping of Kolkata as the prefix gave the coach and the support staff the feeling the Knight Riders is something out of a white man’s book.
It is surprising that there has been no strong reaction from the BCCI as well as the IPL governing body on the issue. Have they forgotten that this tournament’s main aim should be to improve the quality of Indian cricket. Are they so involved in money making and branding that they will let such issues slip under the carpet? Should Indian cricketers silently take the racial abuse just because it comes from a white man?
In this entire episode where is Mr. Shahrukh Khan? He was busy selling everything about KKR before the league but when his team started loosing he completely abandoned them. Is this what an owner should have done when his team needed him the most? The KKR camp is just waiting for the tournament (read nightmare) to get over so that they could get back home. It will need a huge overhaul and some tough calls to make sure that the team does not humiliate itself in next year’s tournament too. The Knights seem to have even forgotten how to play for pride at the moment.
Has the Left Fort been shaken in West Bengal?
| Posted By SubhadeepBIO Total 13 posts | May 26th, 2009 |
West Bengal was one state in India which was always painted red. Many people would have learnt to live with the idea that Left Front couple not be defeated in the Bengali heartland. But for the first time since the polls post Indira Gandhi’s death in 1984 Left seems to be on shaky ground in its own bastion. Analyst believe the Trinamool Congress and Congress alliance might cause a dent in the Left stronghold.
The politics in West Bengal has mostly been isolated from the rest of the country. The Babri Masjid demolition or the politics or ‘Mandal and Kamandal’ hardly made any impact of the poll results here. West Bengal seemed to have been insulated from liberalization, saffron wave of the 90s, the castist politics or recent India Shining campaign. It was all about a political ideology preached by the Left which worked in what was once India’s most prosperous state.
The question in West Bengal was never who but it was by how much? People knew who was on road to Delhi, the unknown factor was number of votes. Most political parties over the years actually fought for the second place in West Bengal. But for the first time political pundits seem to be interested in the outcome of the polls here as it is unpredictable. For the first time a non-Left coalition seems to be sniffing victory in a substantial number of seats.
In the last assembly election out of the 294 seats the Left Front won 227 while the Congress and TMC managed 51 seats. In the last Lok Sabha elections LF bagged 35 out of the 42 seats. But a lot of water has flown down the Hoogly since then and a lot has changed. The urban rural divide became more evident during the Tata Nano crisis. The Left Front which had championed the cause of the poor farmers suddenly turned Land Grabbers from Land Reformers.
The high percentage of voter turn out and violence may signal a change wave going on around in West Bengal. The rural voters who were once the die hard supporters of the Left Front suddenly seems to have lost trust in the party which had done a lot for them in the grassroot level. The negligible suicide rate among farmers in West Bengal is a result of such reforms in the state. But the farmers now see the LF turning a back on them after Singur and Nandigram.
It will be amateurish for anybody to write off the Left Front in West Bengal but the Left leaders surely are having sleepless nights this time around. The May 16 results will show if truly the ‘Didi Factor’ worked in the Red State. For the Left Front it remains to be seen if Singur and Nandigram becomes their Waterloo.
Lankan crisis to impact Tamil Nadu polls
| Posted By SubhadeepBIO Total 13 posts | April 27th, 2009 |
The war between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) in northern Sri Lanka is likely to have a huge impact on the Lok Sabha polls in in Tamil Nadu. Political parties from Tamil Nadu like the DMK, AIADMK and PMK are trying to draw maximum mileage out of the Lankan issue. The BJP and the Congress are watching their steps on the issue and refraining themselves from making any controversial remarks on the issue.
Now the Sri Lankan has finally declared a ceasefire and promised not to use heavy weapons and air strikes as close to one lakh Tamil civilians are still believed to be trapped in the battle zone. This after New Delhi requested Colombo to halt the aggressive move by its army which was talking a toll not only on the Tigers but the civilians too. Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said the ceasefire was a result of the Indian intervention in the island nation.
The ceasefire by the Lankan government will bring a huge sigh of relief to the Congress and the DMK as both these parties are on sticky wicket in the state. DMK is not likely to sweep through the polls like it did last time when it got all the seats along with its allies denying Jayalalitha’s AIADMK a single seat in the Parliament. LTTE’s defeat would have further made the situation for the Congress- DMK combine.
The PMK has made LTTE the most important issue in Tamil Nadu and its leader Vaiko is openly campaigning for the Tamil Tigers. Often termed as the political face of the LTTE in India Vaiko would surely emerge as the greatest benefactor if any thing happens to the LTTE chief and his organisation. He had even threatened to have a bloodbath in Tamil Nadu in case anything happens to Prabhakaran or the LTTE.
The coming few days will be very important as the Lankan Army will not give up its positions after making strategic gains. What seems logical is the army is giving some time so that the civilians can go out after which it can launch its final offensive against the government.
Nano finally ignites its engines
| Posted By SubhadeepBIO Total 13 posts | April 21st, 2009 |
After lots of hurdles and roadblocks both corporate and political the Tata Nano finally has pushed the fuel into the ignition cylinder. The world’s cheapest car and one of modern India’s engineering marvel will finally be seen on the roads. Had it not been for some insane politics the car popularly rechristened as the ‘Lakhtakia’ would have been five months old now. But as they say “better late than never”.
Tata Nano was the talk of the town during the 79th Geneva Motor Show. It attracted more people than the Bentleys, the Audis, the Rolls Royaces could. The giants had to bow in front of the cheapest car from a so called ‘Third World Country.’ Many automobile enthusiasts have compared it to Henry Ford’s legendary Model T which had revolutionised America.
Tata Nano has to be hailed as the greatest engineering marvel to have come out of India since its independence. Coming from the most respected corporate house in India it is a perfect example of ‘extreme engineering.’ It may not surprise many that Tata Motors has filed in as many as 17 patents for the different components which had to be custom made for the Nano.
The concept was thought to be impossible by most automotive giants around the world. Many had raised doubts on the feasibility of the project. Corporates rivals even went on to ridicule the project saying the Tatas will add an extra wheel to an auto-rickshaw and call it a car. Tatas have silenced all of them and the same people who had ridiculed Ratan Tata and his men are working on their own version of the ‘People’s Car’. Bajaj Auto has even displayed its prototype in the Delhi Auto Expo.
If corporate rivalry was not enough there was some insane politics played out against the project under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee. Her prolonged agitation made sure Tata Nano had to exit Singur in West Bengal and find a new home in Sanand, Gujarat. The meant launch date had to be postponed by five months and Tata group incurred loses upto Rs. 1500 Crores.
In spite of the loses the Tatas stuck to their price of one lakh and once again proved why do Indians still swear by the name of Tata. In the end Ratan Tata and his men have stood against time and delivered what they had promised. March 23, 2009 will go down as a historic date not only in India’s automotive history but in the automotive history of the world.
Maya wants to spread her ‘Mayajal’
| Posted By SubhadeepBIO Total 13 posts | April 21st, 2009 |
Mayawati’s decision to fight the election on her own has left many amazed. More so with her claim to form a Non-NDA and Non-UPA government on her own. This definitely has to be the boldest statement for the election season. She might have the largest state in India under her control with 80 seats to the Lok Sabha but to challenge the two national parties is quite amazing.
If we go by the last Lok Sabha polls Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party has won a mere 19 seats while rival Samajwadi Party got 35 out of the 80 seats. But a lot of water has flown down the Ganges since then and Mayawati registered a historic win in the last Assembly election winning an absolute majority in the house and being the first leader to do so in almost two decades.
By challenging the BJP and the Congress and playing pressure politics with the Third Front, Maya is keeping everyone guessing. The question arises is what is behind her confidence or overconfidence? In the best case scenario she can win a maximum 80 seats in UP which seems highly unlikely. Other than UP her party has hardly has not raised its head in any other state.
Mayawati is trying to woo the voters with what became popularly known as ‘Social Engineering’ during the last UP Polls. She has shed her image of an anti-upper cast leader and has included the upper cast people among her ranks. This worked wonders for her in the last elections. She has however not forgotten to champion the cause of dalits making sure they see her as their sole leader.
Mayawati also plans to cash in on Samajwadi Party’s Muslim votes after siding with the Congress in the Indo-US Nuclear Deal. Muslims who have always been loyal to the SP suddenly have a feeling they have been bertrayed by the SP. Since they can’t side with the BJP under any circumstance, Maywati seems to have emerged as their only saviour. They vote share might turn the table in UP this time.
Mayawati will be the biggest challenge to the Third Front. She is one leader they cannot ignore, neither can they work with. Even before the polls have started she has expressed her interest in the Prime Minister’s chair. Her rise or fall might be the most interesting story in the upcoming General Elections. It remains to be seen if Mayawati can weave her Mayajal around 7th Race Course Road.
Women leaders are more dictatorial
| Posted By SubhadeepBIO Total 13 posts | March 17th, 2009 |
Mayawati is eyeing the post of the Prime Minister in the upcoming General Elections. She is not alone a whole bunch of women leaders promise to make an impact in the upcoming elections. Madam Sonia leads the oldest party in India. Mamata Banerjee is playing pressure politics with Sonia and her party. Down South Jayalalitha plans to defeat DMK in the coming polls. Women leaders are calling shots this election season in India.
Isn’t it ironical that the West which has always championed the cause of equality amongst women has been very orthodox when it came to putting a women for top job in a country. Other than Margaret Thatcher the former Prime Minister of United Kingdom the West has hardly anything to show when it comes to being ruled by the fairer sex.
On the contrary the so called Third World nations of the Indian subcontinent have shown good examples of empowerment of women if not in daily lives at least in politics. Starting with Sirimavo Bandaranaike in Sri Lanka in 1960 all the countries in the region have been ruled by the fairer sex. Be it Indira Gandhi in India, Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, Chandrika Kumaratunga in Sri Lanka or Sheikh Hasina and Khalida Zia in Bangladesh women have time and again helmed the politics in the region.
Coming back to the context of women leaders in India have been more dictatorial than there male counterparts when it came to controlling their parties. Right from the time of Indira Gandhi to present day people like Sonia Gandhis, Mayawatis, Jayalalithas and the Mamata Banerjees are the last word in their party.
Can anyone name a few leaders from the BSP, TMC or the AIADMK who can match eye with these leaders? The truth is leaders like Mayawati, Jayalalitha and Mamata Banerjee don’t like and don’t have a second leader in their party who can raise a voice against the. These very people who promise us democracy all round the year do not even have an election process to select the leader of their parties. They promise to run democracy with the methods of autocracy.
It is the same country where women are fighting over equality and from home to the corporate world they have to prove themselves everyday. On the other hand there are leaders whose ego won’t let them bow before anyone. Isn’t India a land of irony?
Campus rockers
| Posted By Shayan AcharyaBIO Total 1 posts | December 5th, 2008 |
‘Yeah we rock, we rock, we rock on’.
This seemed to be the theme of the much-hyped ‘Disney Camp Rock, My School Rocks’, the inter-school musical talent hunt organised by Disney Channel at Vidyamandir auditorium, on Monday.
The national dance and music talent hunt aims to bring out the best campus team, which would get a chance to choreograph a Disney Channel music video.
In the Kolkata auditions, the city witnessed stunning performances by city school students. With the participation of students from nearly 60 schools, the auditorium was under the control of these young guns.
Schools like Don Bosco (Park Circus), Our Lady Queen of the Missions, The Assembly of God Church School, Frank Anthony Public School and Carmel School participated in the event.
The participating school teams proved their mettle by mesmerising the audiences with their unique dance steps and moves. ‘This event is really exciting. It’s given us a chance to showcase our talents; we are really thrilled to take part in it’, stated an excited participant.
Auditions for ‘Disney Camp Rock, My School Rocks’ will be held in other cities as well, based on which the national champions will be selected by celebrity judge Shiamak Davar.
Helping hand for needy
| Posted By I Love KolkataBIO Total 63 posts | August 4th, 2008 |
Ninety students from three faculties of Jadavpur University (JU) joined hands to supply clothes and other items of daily use to pavement dwellers. The project that took off on July 5, was the initiative of the varsity’s National Service Scheme unit.
“Every year our students take part in community service programmes, but the response this year has been overwhelming,” said Bappa Mullick, director of youth welfare, JU. “Usually the strength of volunteers for such initiatives is around 50. This year, we have received such good response that we can’t accommodate any more,” he added.
The students have been divided into six groups. They work on Saturdays and Sundays every week. Read more »
Howrah boy bags gold
| Posted By I Love KolkataBIO Total 63 posts | August 4th, 2008 |
This boy is on the road to success. After securing second position in medicine in the West Bengal Joint Entrance Examination, Subhrashis Guha Niyogi of Howrah has added yet another feather to his cap by winning gold at the 19th International Biology Olympiad (IBO, 2008).
“I gave it my best shot and I am happy to have made my parents and country proud. I want more students to come forward and take these exams,” said the 17-year-old.
IBO, 2008 was held at the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education in Mumbai from July 13 to 20. Over 220 students from 55 nations participated in the event. Read more »
Unholy actions by holy men
| Posted By prabir kumar ghoseBIO Total 16 posts | July 24th, 2008 |
Two school kids went missing from the ashram of a noted spiritual guru, their dead bodies were subsequently discovered near a river bed. It was said that the kids had drowned even though the depth of water in the vicinity did not justify that reasoning.
The police were called in. They carried out investigations and pronounced that the kids had indeed drowned. The tell-tale signs of some rituals having been performed were ignored. The parents of the dead kids did not accept the findings and sat on a mute fast. The locals of the city protested by declaring a bandh today and, when a TV team went there to cover the scenes, they were mobbed by persons reportedly belonging to the ashram. A woman reporter was manhandled and from her reports it seems that the hooligans were ready to thwart any attempt to procure live footage - the intention was to clamp down on real time happenings in and around the ashram.
These do not speak well of the guru who should practice what he preaches. When advising others to act and behave with humility and respect the feelings and sentiments of others should also be considered. He should enforce discipline in his own campus. The guru is a revered person and these unhappy incidents have tarnished his image. Instead of dismissing the accusations of the parents of the dead kids, he should extend co-operation to unravel the mystery – it is possible that, unknown to him, there are persons within his ashram who practice witchcraft which was responsible for the loss of innocent lives.
UPA wins trust vote
| Posted By prabir kumar ghoseBIO Total 16 posts | July 24th, 2008 |
The political upheavals of the past few days have finally come to an end with the UPA Government winning the trust vote. There were tense moments and, when the final results were declared, there was a sigh of relief and smiling faces. The difference was expected to be miniscule and there were assumptions that the speaker might have to give the casting vote for a positive result. But, that was not necessary – the difference was a healthy 19 votes. Obviously, in spite of assurances given to the party leaders by their members, there was cross voting. That has not made the leaders happy. The situation now is that one cannot trust his own people!
Plenty of research would go into establishing the reasons for the change of heart by some – the attraction of monetary benefits could have played a role in the role reversals. Whatever it be the leftist parties who were determined to pull down the Government have been humiliated – one would like to listen now to their explanations. If horse trading has wooed away as many as 19 of the opposing camps, it is a bit too farfetched and difficult to believe. Anyway, the sudden enthusiasm to put up a third front with Ms Mayawati as the leader has suffered a setback. It would be interesting to see whether the alliance takes shape in days to come ahead of the scheduled General Elections.
The left parties would face the music in West Bengal because the ill timed decision of the CPM to withdraw support from the UPA Government has put a spoke in the proposed development plans of West Bengal. The electorate would not forgive them soon. Therefore, tie ups with other political parties like the BSP might come in handy.
Mental math, the Vedic way
| Posted By I Love KolkataBIO Total 63 posts | July 22nd, 2008 |
Have you ever tried to do not-so-simple calculations in your head? Chances are you had to either reach for a piece of paper or worse, a calculator. But there is a method that lets you develop high speed calculation skills — without external aid.
“Vedic mathematics gives you access to high speed calculation skills,” claimed Gaurav Tekriwal, president of The Vedic Maths Forum, India. To familiarise students with the skills, the forum invited Vedic math guru professor Kenneth Williams to hold workshops in city schools earlier this month.
“Vedic mathematics has 16 sutras, which were taken from ancient texts by Swami Bharat Krishna Tirtha in the early 20th century,” said Williams. Read more »
Book world bound
| Posted By I Love KolkataBIO Total 63 posts | July 22nd, 2008 |
With the Internet, television and video games claiming students’ short attention span, books are being relegated to the background. The Cambridge School, near Hazra, has come up with a novel concept for taking youngsters back to the written word.
Throughout July, the school is organising a library festival for students from classes VII to X where they compete to write the best book reviews for cash prizes. A minimum of three reviews must be sent in, on books borrowed from the school library, although it is not mandatory to do so.
“By giving them an incentive, we would like to bring them to books, as there is no substitute for reading,” says principal Nonda Chatterjee.
In the review, the students have been asked to stress on a story’s theme, plot, characters and the socio-cultural context. The 15 best reviews will be selected for cash prizes. Read more »
Exchange of knowledge
| Posted By I Love KolkataBIO Total 63 posts | July 19th, 2008 |
Classroom lessons for students of Calcutta International School (CIS) goes beyond the chalk-and-talk method. Working in collaboration with College Marx Dormoy in Paris, the two institutions publish French magazines every year and exchange it between themselves.
“We teach an international curriculum and we do not believe in keeping education restricted to text books. There is a lot of difference between gathering information from the Internet and acquiring knowledge. In order to make our students knowledgeable we try to initiate them into such projects,” says Anuradha Das, principal of CIS. Read more »
Art for nature’s sake
| Posted By I Love KolkataBIO Total 63 posts | July 18th, 2008 |
Yuksum is a five and half hour journey from Gangtok. The government senior school of Yuksum doesn’t have an auditorium. The only kind of theatre youngsters get to see are street plays. Yet the students were at the Birla Industrial and Technological Museum, staging their play Resurrection of a Mummy, written and directed by their biology teacher Sanjay Acharya.
Along with seven schools from Tripura, Nagaland, Bihar, Assam, Meghalaya, Orissa and Kolkata, they had assembled for the Eastern India Science Drama Competition, competing for a berth at the National Science Drama Festival to be held at the Nehru Science Centre in Delhi on September 16. Read more »
Locked in a war of words
| Posted By I Love KolkataBIO Total 63 posts | July 18th, 2008 |
It was a pitched battle as 16 students locked horns over the topic ‘The women’s reservation bill is a threat to male dominance’, at the eastern zonal finals of the ninth inter- institutional L N Birla Memorial debate, held at the Vidya Mandir auditorium.
A preliminary round was held the previous day and seven schools, from the participating 20, reached the finals.
With topics ranging from senile social adaptation to pan-national governance, students blended anecdotes with statistics to prove their stand. Read more »
Bye bye Bypass?
| Posted By I Love KolkataBIO Total 63 posts | July 16th, 2008 |
The day was June 30. The time was past 11.15 am. I was still on the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass, close to the newly inaugurated Mani Square shopping mall. I was a bundle of nerves, as I had to reach Belgharia for my university exams. At the moment, I had only one thought: “Will I be able to reach at least Ultadanga in time?” The huge traffic snarl on the Bypass seemed reluctant to budge.
Little did I know that it would take hours to reach Ultadanga, from Garia – a distance that can usually be covered in 40 minutes.
The jam had started right from the Ruby Hospital Crossing. It was a chaos of honking cars and buses and all other imaginable kinds of automobiles found in Kolkata. Too many cars stuck in too little a space — and a question popped up in my mind, “Is the Bypass still the fastest way to reach our destinations?” Read more »
School of rock
| Posted By I Love KolkataBIO Total 63 posts | July 10th, 2008 |
For the budding musicians of St James’ School, picking up trophies at prestigious rock competitions in the city is a fairly routine affair. With the guitar, drums, keyboard and the vocalist synchronising in a perfect crescendo, they are a hard team to beat in the fest circuit.
Potential rockers vie for entry into the school band during musical contests like ‘East meets West’. “We have been conducting the contest for the last 25 years and the school band dates back to almost the same period,” says Terence Ireland, principal, St James’ School. The band members are chosen through auditions and from musical contests in school.
Talent is not the only criterion, though. “The boy should be well-behaved, as he represents the school,” says Neville Holt, senior school coordinator and teacher-in-charge of fests. Most of the band members are senior boys from classes IX to XII. “We do not dismantle the group each year, but only fill up places. The old members in the group help to maintain continuity,” says Holt. Read more »
Learning science the mad way
| Posted By I Love KolkataBIO Total 63 posts | July 10th, 2008 |
A scientific principle can be taught as scores of black letters and a couple of diagrams. Or it could take the form of a discovery, leaping out of books through exciting experiments.
Instead of reading about a rocket, one could also build one that not only launches at count down but also separates in air like a real rocket. Little surprise that most children prefer the second option.
The West Bengal franchise of Canadian organisation Mad Science has started regular After School Programs (ASP) at their office in Survey Park. “Very few schools have welcomed our projects so far. We pin our hopes on parents who have been very enthusiastic whenever we given demonstrations in shopping malls, bookstores, at British Council and other public spaces,” said Anirban Chanda, the head of Mad Science, Kolkata. Read more »
To guru with love
| Posted By I Love KolkataBIO Total 63 posts | June 21st, 2008 |
It was Ashmita Mohanty’s big day. The child prodigy was chosen to present Guru Pranam at Gyan Manch on June 17, as part of a tribute to Padmabibhushana Kelucharan Mohapatra organised by Shinjan Nrityalaya.
Wearing a red and blue costume and heavy silver ornaments, Ashmita — a Class II student of MP Birla Foundation Higher Secondary School — regaled the audience with her stellar performance. “I like Odissi as it is easy to learn,” she said. Ashmita has been staging performances all over the city, including Swabhumi. Recently, she also danced at a temple in Khidderpore. Her upcoming shows include one in Bhubaneshwar. Read more »
Brush with success
| Posted By I Love KolkataBIO Total 63 posts | June 20th, 2008 |
Imagine getting so bored in the summer holidays that you do something a bit out of the ordinary. And before you know, that little something earns you a ticket to fame.
That is how life has panned out for Tirthanu Ghosh. “I had nothing to do. So I called up a phone number telecast on Disney Channel and recorded a song. The next thing I knew I was being called to an audition,” the 13-year-old says.
Two auditions and as many songs later, he is in the national finals of Disney’s The Big Pop Star Dream as the zonal champion. And if he wins, he gets to fly to the US and meet teenaged pop star Hannah Montana in person. Read more »
The food zone down the road…
| Posted By I Love KolkataBIO Total 63 posts | June 5th, 2008 |
Although, someday it might have housed just a bakery, today, it has many more options to offer. The shops lining the Lord’s Bakery crossing in the Lake Gardens area of Prince Anwar Shah Road have an exclusive common feature—they cater indulgingly to the taste buds of the local population. An exclusive variety of south Indian cuisine, Chinese dishes, Mughlai food, fast food and fruit juices await the foodies of the area.
The popularity of the series of seven to eight shops lining the stretch of Prince Anwar Shah Road, leading to Jadavpur, spreads a good way across its immediate neighbourhood. Pallavi Mishra, a resident of the Tollygunje area, says that good shops such as these are not to be found in her locality, and she always makes it a point to pick up something from here when she is in the area. The entire stretch has gradually, turned into a hang-out zone for the youngsters of the area. Many a time groups of friends are spotted grabbing a bite after a day of fun and frolic. With two schools nearby, the students on their way home after a tiring day, also pause to indulge in the tasty delights that this set of eateries has to offer. A little late in the evening comes the crowd of office-goers, returning from a hard day’s work. Some of the shops have arranged for make-shift sitting arrangements, to enable customers to eat in comfort. Read more »
‘War’ of ‘Words’?
| Posted By I Love KolkataBIO Total 63 posts | June 3rd, 2008 |
Scrabulous, the e-version of the word game “Scrabble” was developed by the Agarwalla brothers–Jayant and Rajat, the alumni of St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata- keeping in mind the huge popularity of computer games in India.
When the game was first introduced on the social networking site Facebook, little did the brothers think that they would be entering into legal controversies. Hasbro & Mattel, the makers of “Scrabble”, have suddenly asked Scrabulous to shutdown, treating it as an “illicit affair”.
This has led to a “Save Scrabulous” campaign among the users of Facebook, on which Scrabulous can be played. But the question arises regarding the acceptability of such a movement to save a game that has already been stamped “illegal”! Read more »
Green relief
| Posted By I Love KolkataBIO Total 63 posts | May 19th, 2008 |
The Ramdhanu Park has become an integral part of the life of the people of the Golf Garden’s area of Prince Gulam Muhammad Shah Road. Built a few years ago, it has greatly affected the lifestyle of the residents of the locality. With a wide stretch of grass running around a small pond, the park is replete with fresh greenery, and occasional seats launched under shady trees. The footfall in the park is quite extensive, and continues throughout diverse hours of the day.
During summer, visitors stream in as early as 5am. Health conscious youngsters out for the early morning jog, middle aged folks busy exercising and elderly ones talking a brief morning walk, form a mixed crowd. With the growth of the day, the population becomes sparse, except for the students of a local school, who stop on their way home to rest on the shady benches. The evening brings the local kids out to the park for a game and the elders for some minutes of chatting and socializing. Read more »
The Ramakrishna Pathagar
| Posted By I Love KolkataBIO Total 63 posts | May 18th, 2008 |
Uniqueness is the right word to describe the Ramakrishna Pathagar a unit of the Belur Math Ramakrishna Mission at Indrani Park on Prince Anwar Shah Road. With the initiation of the idea in 1958, and the acquiring of a suitable plot of land where a single-roomed structure was constructed in 1984, it has made glorious contribution to the welfare of the people of the area for about twenty-four years.
The devotees assemble and conduct pujas on all auspicious days, especially on the birth anniversaries of Sri Ramakrishna, Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda. A puja is also held on the foundation day of the institution. Every year on June 3, a three-day long festival is held to mark this happy occasion. Religious discussions are held every Sunday, and devotees make a beeline for it. A bijoya sammelan is also arranged every year after the Pujas, to increase fellow feeling among devotees. Read more »
Young, drunk and hip
| Posted By I Love KolkataBIO Total 63 posts | May 17th, 2008 |
Jojo Roy, a high school student returns home late, drunk and exhausted. He sneaks in through the back gate, fearing he might get caught. The excuse for this late coming, if his parents ask, would be visiting a pal’s b’day party. He was in a city pub, all this while, fagging & drinking.
“Eh dude, what’s life sans fun?”
Be it for fun’s sake or for just a dose of adventure, late coming and giving false excuses have become a common practice among the city-youth, a large section of them are rapidly getting addicted to smoking and drinking. This rate has but increased over the years. Read more »
Chetan’s 3 Mistakes
| Posted By I Love KolkataBIO Total 63 posts | May 13th, 2008 |
The ‘biggest selling English language novelist in India’s history’, according to The New York Times, Chetan Bhagat, was in the city on Sunday, to launch and promote his new novel, ‘The 3 mistakes of my life’. A chorus of questions was heard from the crowd waiting to greet him at the Metropolitan shopping mall in Chak Garia. People wondered when the author would arrive and whether or not he would entertain questions.
As the news of his visit spread, Kolkata’s over-enthusiastic readers queued up in the Depot Bookstore to meet their favourite author. Though the scheduled time of arrival was seven in the evening, the author stepped into the bookstore at 7: 30 p.m. Read more »
No way to walk!
| Posted By I Love KolkataBIO Total 63 posts | May 12th, 2008 |
It was supposed to be a footpath, but has now become a mini bazar! The footpath along Garia Main Road, has now become a hotspot for roadside hawkers.
The road that stretches from Raja S.C. Mullick Road, towards Boral Main Road, is now covered with the roadside food stalls, tea stalls, and has turned into a hub for vendors who sell vegetables and other things.
This has led to a serious problem for the locals. As the pavements are now in the hold of hawkers, locals are finding it difficult to walk along the footpaths.
“Everyday they occupy the entire pavement, and we have to take the trouble of walking on the roads. This often leads to accidents. It is really difficult,” says R. Biswas, a local resident. Read more »
Special kids shake a leg
| Posted By I Love KolkataBIO Total 63 posts | May 2nd, 2008 |
Rehabilitation Centre For Children (RCFC) - a resource institute for children with or thopaedic disability - celebrated its 35th Foundation Day on April 24 in its first-floor auditorium.
To mark the special occasion, children danced to the popular tune Dhadina Natina while some sang We Shall Overcome to a cheering audience.
Established in 1973 by a 22-year old British nurse, Jane Pamela Webb, the centre now boasts of a well-equipped operation theatre, X-ray unit and child development department.
Over 100 underprivileged children, below 14 years, avail its residential facilities. Many with Flat Foot and Flexor Deformity have been operated on at cheap rates here. The Centre has two wings, one in Behala and the other in Bolpur. Read more »
Roadmap for budding scribes
| Posted By I Love KolkataBIO Total 63 posts | May 2nd, 2008 |
Students of Calcutta University (CU) and NSHM Knowledge Campus organised an interaction between students of mass communication from the two institutions and James Richard Dickenson, a veteran correspondent and political editor of The Washington Post, USA, on April 24. The 75-year-old journalist answered the queries of students regarding the present US election campaign and also listed the dos and don’ts to become a successful journalist.
“I disagree with the notion that journalists are born and not made. But one can only be a journalist if one has the temperament for it”, said the scribe who covered every US presidential campaign from 1964 to 1988.
He advised the students to cultivate the qualities of a good political reporter that include scepticism, inquisitiveness, objectivity and the importance of rechecking facts. “Once a senior editor told me that even if my mother said she loved me, I should check it,” joked Dickenson. Read more »
Ready for action
| Posted By I Love KolkataBIO Total 63 posts | April 28th, 2008 |
For students of Mahadevi Birla, school days are a heady cocktail of work and play.
This is one school where sport is not just an extracurricular activity. At Mahadevi Birla Girls’ Higher Secondary School, swimming and skating classes are compulsory. And these are just two of the many sports they get to play.
“A child’s physical development is as important as his emotional and intellectual progress. We need to cater to her all-round development,” says Malini Bhagat, principal of the school reputed to have one of the best sports complexes in the city.
The “Krida Kunj”, as it is called, was established in 1988 with facilities for seven sporting activities: badminton, table tennis, skating, swimming, dart, chess and gymnastics. Dart and chess were introduced in 2006. The school bagged the Inter-School Dart Championship organised by West Bengal Dart Association in 2006, defeating three-times champ St Thomas School, Howrah.
Besides, the school won two silver and three bronze medals at the West Bengal School Games Aquatic Championship last year. The school team also won the badminton championship in December 2007. In 2006, the school team won two gold, one silver and a bronze medal in the Inter-School Skating Competition held at MC Kejriwal Vidyapith, Howrah.
The ground floor houses the swimming pool, while the first floor has a sprawling wooden skating rink. The second floor has two badminton courts, table tennis boards and the gymnasium.
The school provides all equipment and classes are held twice a week. There are 10 coaches. Swimming and skating are compulsory. “Those who are afraid at first are made to sit near the pool and encouraged to take a dip. This way their fear subsides,” explains Sushma Bubna, administrator, Krida Kunj.
Besides these two, the students must opt for another sport of their choice. “The younger ones often go for gymnastics, but after Class VII, students prefer to stick to table tennis and badminton,” says Bubna.
“Since there are so many options, there is a tendency to opt for a different sport each year. We try to guide a student toward a sport for which she has an aptitude, she adds. “Initially, students were not regular at the after school practice. But attendance has improved since we made it chargeable since 2007.”
The students are enthusiastic. “I want to be a badminton champ. I practise for three hours three to four days a week,” says Class IX student Kosha Modi. For Raveena Surana of Class VIII, chess is the first love. “Everybody in my family plays chess. I too want to excel in this game.”
Jhinuk Mazumdar
(Powered by Young Metro)
Kids test their abacus skills
| Posted By I Love KolkataBIO Total 63 posts | April 28th, 2008 |
Last Sunday was eventful for all abacus fans. Two contests were held in the city to spot the sharpest ones.
Armed with the abacus - either in hand or in the mind - 1,500 school kids raced against time at the St Xavier’s College auditorium on Sunday April 20. They were trying to solve as many of 200 sums as possible, in just eight minutes, at the third West Bengal UC MAS Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Competition.
Under the UC MAS programme, children use the abacus in the first three levels. They are then weaned from the actual gadget and learn use it in their minds. An abacus is a sort of calculator, often constructed as a wooden frame with beads sliding on wires. You calculate by shifting the beads. The abacus was in use centuries before the adoption of the modern numeral system and is still widely used by merchants and clerks in countries such as China, Japan and some African states.
“The competition was held at 10 levels of proficiency, each level divided into three age groups. Thus, there were 30 champions or ‘Bengal Tigers’ who will represent West Bengal in the national championship to be held in Chennai in the month of August. If they do well, they qualify for the international meet in Malaysia in December,” said N. Anand, chief moderator and director, operations, UC MAS.
Suvayan Mitra, who studies in Class IV at The Future Foundation School, finished first at the highest level (J). The nine-year-old, who had come second in the international meet last year, has set his sight on doing better in 2008. “I am overwhelmed to win this meet with a decent margin. I am looking forward to the international competition. I will try my best to win this time,” Suvayan said.
“Suvayan came first among all age groups as well as at highest proficiency level,” said Anand, adding: “The others who did well at this level were Raghav Gupta, a Class VI student of La Martiniere School for Boys and Anushka Sarogi of Modern High School.”
Rith Basu
(Powered by Young Metro)
A tribute to my old Calcutta
| Posted By prabir kumar ghoseBIO Total 16 posts | April 22nd, 2008 |
At the outset let me make it clear that I am not a regular resident of Kolkata. My association with the city has been an on-and-off affair. Whenever I have come here, I have noticed the gradually changing skyline and have carried back memories, both pleasant and unpleasant, which I nurtured carefully till the next visit……
Does anyone recollect the Calcutta where marketing on the occasion of Durga Puja used to be in the Harlalka opposite Medical College or in the India Silk House on College Street or the Kamalalaya Stores on Dharamtolla Street? Does anyone recollect that purchase of footwear would be kept in abeyance till the day when all the latest designs and prices would be disclosed on the last page of leading newspapers? Does anyone recollect a park called Wellington Square where Political parties would organize meetings on Saturdays?
Kamalalaya Stores was the only Departmental Store where one could get lost for the whole day, without realizing it. It stocked every conceivable object from safety pins to suitcases. There was a Section devoted to toys and a wonderful refreshment room – a visit to both these was a must after completion of purchases. In order to make the experience more memorable, one need not carry along all his purchases. They would automatically move to the Centralized Delivery counter located at the exit. Private cars were not as common as they are today, therefore, the uniformed guard would arrange a taxi for you, if you so desired.
For those with shoe string budgets, there would be products aplenty in the various Hawkers’ Corners. There was a very popular one Subhas Corner in Hatibagan, this was followed by the Ballygunge Hawkers Corner.
Does anyone recollect trudging along to see the Durga idols at the Headquarters of the Fire Brigade or the one at Beadon Street? Both were famous for innovative designs – I still remember the idol of the Fire Brigade where Asura was depicted as kneeling down in front of Devi Durga and pleading with outstretched arms for mercy. Or the idols at Beadon Street modeled in lines of Ajanta frescos. There were also the celebrations at Baghbazar where the fair was an added attraction. Microphones all around would air melodious songs released on the occasion and rendered by renowned artistes like Sandhya, Lata, Asha, Protima, Hemanta, Shyamal, Manna Dey and Talat Mahmood. There also used to be parodies by Mintu Dasgupta or comics by the duo Bhanu-Jahar. Hit films would also be released during the Pujas apart from Special editions of popular magazines. An author then had the liberty of writing as per his own choice, unlike today when he is commissioned to write on a specific subject. The reason is obvious – with so many writers in the market, there is a likelihood of repetition of themes and subjects if left to individual choices.
Of course, there existed a great cultural divide between residents of the North and the South. This was observed by the Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee, he made a mention in one of his speeches. Whilst the Northerners were more conservative, their counterparts down South were more liberal, progressive and advanced. Soon after the release of that beautiful cinema ‘Hatari’, a restaurant of the same name opened on Rash Behari Avenue. It was an instant success and would be patronized by the youth of both North and South. Subsequently, this divide kept expanding, especially with people from other parts of the country preferring to settle down in pockets of South Calcutta. There were Malayalees, Maharastrians and Bangaloreans. Kolkata welcomed all of them with outstretched arms and, from them, emerged luminaries like Usha Uthup, Thankomani Kutty, Derek O’Brien and Dr. N. Vishwanathan.
Kolkata today is a maze of multiplexes set amidst magnificent flyovers and approachable by roads generously endowed with potholes of various sizes and shapes.
My Calcutta is today’s Kolkata: a change of name is not an indication of a change of character or culture. The roads get waterlogged even now, as it used to fifty years ago. Does anyone recollect that song – ‘the ladies of Calcutta…’ sung by Peter Sellers in the film ‘the Millionairess’.
Campus creativity
| Posted By I Love KolkataBIO Total 63 posts | April 10th, 2008 |
Starting from photography to ad spoof and documentary films, the students of Techno India made management fest Uniex special. More than 10 city colleges participated in the two-day fest organised on March 30 and 31.
Inaugurated by actor Sabyasachi Chakraborty, the fest included competitive documentary screenings, a photography contest and management games. The first day began with a photography contest where Deepanwita Bhadro of Meghnad Saha Institute of Technology bagged the first prize. She had clicked a scene depicting rural Bengal.
In Documaniacs, participants screened original documentaries. Calcutta University (CU) bagged the first prize.
“This is the best part of the whole fest as we got to see some really good documentaries,” said Santanu Dutta of CU.
Management programmes ruled on day two. For Bizplan, participants had to work out strategies for product launches ranging from cars to robots. This was followed by Bizgames, where participants had to come up with the best way of dealing with a tight situation. Examples included negotiating the sacking of an efficient worker, if one were in charge of the HR department in a company.
Biswarup Bandyopadhyay of Techno India came first.
At the war of words, titled Bizbate, the topic for the day was “The economic development of developing countries is more important than caring for the environment”.
Debangana Saha
First year, BCA Techno India, Salt Lake
(Powered by Young Metro)
South City: Boon or Bane?
| Posted By I Love KolkataBIO Total 63 posts | March 17th, 2008 |
The South City project– the wish-come-true for the whole of Kolkata was something everyone was waiting for with bated breath. With a huge residential project, augmented by every sort of modern facility, has caught the eye of all and sundry. The international standard shopping mall, a part of the project, is an added charm. With brands like Pantaloons, Guess, Spenser’s, Wills Lifestyle, Shopper’s Stop, United Colors of Benetton and a wide array of others, it provides a large assortment of shops to choose from. The vast and festooned mall awes every visitor. It provides one of the biggest food pavilions, with all the leading brands tied up in a tough competition to satisfy the taste buds of foodies.
The mall has been a refreshing change to the ordinary environment of the area. Homemaker and a local resident, Mrs. Shefali Roy, says, “Now it has become so much easier for us to indulge in shopping as we don’t need to travel long distances. The presence of the shops in the vicinity is a great advantage.” The shooting up of a branch of Fame Cinemas has been an added advantage. The largest in India, the mall had converted the quiet and sedentary locality lying off Prince Anwar Shah Road into a busy hub. It has also become a hang out for youngsters who live nearby. As Roshni, a college student, feels that she now need not go all the way to Forum to hang out with her friends, especially when South City boasts of a multiplex and a food court.
The beautifully set mall, with a charming ambience and a spacious parking lot has been drawing shoppers, diners and visitors from nooks and corners of the city. However, besides adding to the glamour of the locality and opening up new vistas of shopping for the local residents, the mall has created a few problems as well. The constant stream of visitors has led to a sudden increase in the volume of the traffic, resulting in traffic congestion. This has made travel via the Prince Anwar Shah a time-consuming affair. The traffic jams at the Lake Gardens flyover and the Lords’ Bakery crossing are now regular affairs.
Thus, South City has provided the locality and its people with a mixture of benefits and problems.
Barsali Bhattacharyya
Revamping Barrackpore Station
| Posted By I Love KolkataBIO Total 63 posts | March 14th, 2008 |
Barrackpore Station is one of the oldest railway stations in India, and one with a rich heritage. Recently, the DRM of Sealdah, Mr. Swapan Kr. Mondol ordered that the station be given a face lift.
The over-bridge has already been renovated and wears a completely new look. Also underway is a proposal for constructing a flyover to facilitate traffic without disturbing train schedules. A new ticket counter has also been constructed near Gate no. 14. This will be a great boon to passengers. A reservation counter has also been constructed a few months ago.
The rooms of the Station Master and the Station Superintendent have been revamped. The beautification process outside the station is also in full swing. The over-bridge in the centre of the station has been broadened to ease movement during rush hour.
The renovation work has restored Barrackpore Station to its old stature. The people of Barrackpore are proud of their new and improved station. They hope that there is more in store for Barrackpore in the near future.
Sritama Dutta
All eyes on the “Metro” front
| Posted By I Love KolkataBIO Total 63 posts | March 14th, 2008 |
The long wait is finally over. It’s time to catch the metro railway and reach your destination!
Come September and Kolkatans will enjoy the metro railway’s extension upto Naktala. Metro railway authorities have promised as much. This will be a great relief to commuters, who currently travel all the way to Tollygunje to catch the metro.
But will this really be beneficial to the residents of Garia, Penguin Park, Garia Park, Kamdahari, Baroda Avenue, Mahamayatala,Boral Main Road, and Baishnabghata, even if the metro runs from Naktala?
“Yes, it would be beneficial to some extent. But if there is a train only after a gap of 25 minutes, commuting would be difficult,” says Arindam Mukherjee, a resident of Mahamayatala. Riddhi Datta, a student of Presidency College and a resident of Kamdahari has a different opinion:”Until and unless the Metro runs from Garia and maintains a regular schedule, it wouldn’t be of too much use to students. If one has to travel to Naktala anyway, there is little point.”
Local residents feel that the 25-minute interval would be a problem. “If I’ve to wait for 25 minutes to catch a metro, then what’s the use? It would be easier for me to take a metro from Tollygunge,” feels Saikat Soumya Roy, a resident of Garia.
At the same time, the residents of Naktala are really happy with the extension. “It will be great if the Metro runs from Naktala. At least, we won’t have to miss school during the monsoons due to waterlogging if we take the metro,” states Sourajit Ghosh, a student who stays in Naktala.
Wouldn’t the rickshaw pullers and the auto-rickshaw drivers find it difficult to get passengers?
“Yes, thats for sure. If the metro starts plying from Naktala, our business will be affected.. Yet, you cant help it….” This was what an auto driver had to say.
Thus, the local people have mixed feelings, but are keeping their fingers crossed. All eyes are on the “Metro” front!
Shayan Acharya
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Group supports Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy |