Category Archives: Records, All

Indian rallyists win European Rally Championship, ERC 3 category

Records, All, Sports, World Opinion
Proud moment: Indian rallyist team comprising Ashwin Naik from Mangaluru and Amitrrajit Ghosh from Kolkata won the European Rally Championship, ERC 3 category, at Athens, organised by the Federation of Internationale de lautomobile; (right) the team during the race.

This is the first time the duo has won the coveted championship

The Indian rallyist team, comprising Amitrrajit Ghosh of Kolkata and Ashwin Naik from Mangaluru, on Sunday won the European Rally Championship, ERC 3 category, at Athens in Greece organised by the Federation of Internationale de l’automobile (FIA).

A release here said it was the first time that the Indian rally duo has won the coveted European Rally Championship. The debutantes Ghosh-Naik drove a Ford Fiesta R2.

The event for the Indian duo was sponsored by Ramakrishna Race Performance Management of Kolkata and Pana, a Mangaluru-based Educational conglomerate.

Quoting Mr. Ghosh and Mr. Naik, the release said it was the first time that any Indian team has made it to the top slot. The European rallyists and the FIA were awed by the victory. The international rally scenario for Indian drivers would not be the same any more as Amit-Ashwin duo have just raised the benchmark, the release said.

Congratulating the duo, Chairman of Pana educational group Prasad Hegde said the Amit-Ashwin team have brought laurels to the country and Pana group is extremely happy with the results.

This was also the first international event that any Mangaluru-based organisation has sponsored.

The Indian duo, who scripted début victory, were leading in their class right from the day one of the three-day rally that passed through some torturous terrain.

Mr. Ghosh, an ace driver was ably co-driven by Mr. Naik and his immense experience left no ambiguity about this victory when they started for the last leg on Sunday.

The release quoted them as saying, “We both drove with safety on top of our mind which gave us confidence right from the word go. We just had to bring the car to the ramp in one piece which we did with great aplomb.”

It quoted Mr. Ghosh as saying, “I and Ashwin knew that we were racing with an older generation of Ford Fiesta R2. Our goal was always to finish the rally with honourable points but we did it by winning the ERC 3 on the top slot which is so fulfilling.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Mangaluru / by Special Correspondent / Mangaluru – June 07th, 2018

Members swing it on Tolly greens

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, Sports

The Tollygunge Club hosted a golf tournament recently that saw around 90 members and guests, including a few industrialists and corporate honchos, swinging it in style on the club’s lush green course.

Capt Ravi de, Anil Mukerji, Govind Atwal

Dinesh Agarwal, one of the participants, said, “It’s always lovely to play on the beautiful course of the club. We braved this hot weather and put up a healthy competition. It was great fun teaming up and golfing with so many corporate executives.”

Viren Sinha, Rahil Ansari, Brandon Dsouza

Some of the winners of the tournament were Siddharth Bansal, Karan Singh, Sharad Jhawar, Sanjay Goenka and Pratik Lakhotia.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Kolkata News / by Srishti Dasgupta / TNN / June 01st, 2018

Federer inspires fangirl’s charity

Business & Economy, Records, All, Sports, World Opinion

Visits to Wimbledon every year and foundation to sponsor local talent

Sunita Sigtia (in top picture by Gautam Bose) started her not-for-profit organisation SiiRF last August, inspired by her idol Roger Federer. The foundation sponsors talents to help them continue in their chosen sport. Sigtia, who travels to Wimbledon every year to watch Federer play, gets an autograph from the tennis legend (above) at Wimbledon in 2013

Chowringhee:

Roger Federer’s philanthropy spurs Calcuttan Sunita Sigtia as much as the magic of his tennis that takes her to Wimbledon every year to watch him play. Her not-for-profit organisation SiiRF, established 10 months ago, stands for “Some Immensely Inspired Roger (Federer) Fans”.

SiiRF was born on August 8, the champion’s birthday, and has since sponsored two young talents who had been struggling to continue in their chosen sport because of financial reasons.

For Sunita, who has met Federer on many occasions, SiiRF is now a mission only matched by her admiration for the legend. “My charity is inspired by Roger….The lesson I have learnt from him is that you have to give something back to society in whatever way possible. My dream is to associate him, even if in a small way, with my foundation,” she told Metro.

Sunita, who is in her 40s, runs a fabrics business. Tennis, Federer and charity – not necessarily in that order – help maintain the work-life balance that she seeks.

One of the two sportspersons Sunita has set out to help is Amit Rawat, the son of a cobbler and a domestic help. Amit, who grew up in a slum in Beniapukur, learnt to play tennis while working as a ball boy at Calcutta International Club and got so good at it that he caught the eye of a coach.

Sunita’s foundation has arranged a brand new kit for him. She also recently sent him to a tennis academy in Pune for six weeks of training. “Amit has done well on the Calcutta circuit, but the next two years are crucial,” she said.

Bristy Mukherjee, the 14-year-old girl who won a silver medal at the Asian Youth Chess Championship in Thailand last month, has also benefited from Sunita’s sponsorship. The teenager’s mother had mortgaged her jewellery to send her to the event. SiiRF has now pledged financial and other support to Bristy for future tournaments.

Sunita, who has “RF” tattooed on her neck and his signature on her forearm, is the Indian face of Fans4Roger, the official fan club of the legend. She had first seen her idol up close in June 2008, when she was visiting London for a house-warming at New Malden, around 5km from Wimbledon. “The house-warming was the official reason for the trip, but I knew I had to visit the All England Club,” she said.

Wimbledon queues are long. For one of the show-court tickets, thousands of fans camp overnight. People in these queues bring tents, folding chairs and rainwear, among other things. Sunita only had an umbrella and it started raining heavily that night. “I was freezing. Another man offered me shelter in his camp,” she recalled.

Visiting Wimbledon has since been an annual ritual. Before each Grand Slam, Federer is presented with the Red Envelope, a collection of good-luck messages from fans across the world. Delivering the envelope to the legend is considered the highest possible honour for a Federer fan. Sunita did so at Wimbledon 2011, wrapping the envelope in silk fabric with RF inscribed in zardosi. “He simply loved it,” she said, beaming at the thought.

Federer’s charity, the Roger Federer Foundation, is involved in more than a dozen educational projects benefiting lakhs of African children in countries like Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

As one of the privileged fans who get to travel each year to London, Paris, Melbourne and New York to get a glimpse of their idol, Sunita believes the best tribute to “the best tennis player ever” would be to emulate his spirit of giving.

Federer might say: “Roger that.”

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph,Calcutta,India / Home> Calcutta / by Debraj Mitra / May 30th, 2018

Science goals & helping hand

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Records, All, Science & Technology

Young Metro

St Augustine’s Day School, Ripon Street, has introduced a robotics club to keep students abreast of development in science and technology. The club, an initiative of principal Richard Gasper, organises workshops, where students are encouraged to make models and devices. Buzzer circuits made by the students at robotics workshops have, for instance, been used during a quiz in the school. The children have taken part in many national as well as international competitions and won accolades.

Students of Assembly of Christ School hit the road to express their gratitude to traffic cops who have to be on duty under the scorching sun. The students, along with vice-principal Rev. G. Samuel Davis, visited traffic kiosks between Barrackpore and Sodepur and handed over goody bags to the traffic cops. The campaign started from Lalkuthi in Barrackpore and covered Chiriamore, Titagarh and Khardah before ending at Sodepur. Each bag carried fruit juice, bottles of packaged drinking water, glucose drink and cucumbers.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph,Calcutta,India / Home> Calcutta / May 28th, 2018

Calcutta ‘plot’ eyes crime prize

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, NRI's / PIO's, Records, All, World Opinion

UK author’s debut thriller on harrogate shortlist

London:

UK-born Abir Mukherjee’s debut thriller set in Calcutta in 1919, A Rising Man, has been shortlisted for a prestigious crime-writing prize.

He is one of six authors selected from a longlist of 18 for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award, which is sponsored by T&R Theakston, a brewery in the market town of Masham, North Yorkshire.

It is awarded annually at the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival, held every July. The winner receives £3000 and a small, hand-carved oak beer cask.

This year’s prize, created “to celebrate the very best in crime fiction” and open to UK and Irish authors, is for a novel published in paperback between May 1, 2017, and April 30, 2018.

News of Abir’s nomination comes as he is about to release his third novel, Smoke and Ashes. His second work was A Necessary Evil.

The winner will be decided by the panel of judges, alongside a public vote that opens online on July 1 and closes on July 14. The winner will be announced on July 19.

Abir’s new tale, Smoke and Ashes, is set in 1921 – two years on from when his debut novel opened. He has created an unlikely partnership between Captain Sam Wyndham and his Bengali assistant, Sergeant “Surrender-not” Banerjee. The latter is patrician, Cambridge educated and socially a cut above his boss, who has arrived from the UK to join the Calcutta police. Wyndham is haunted by his memories of the Great War and is now “battling a serious addiction to opium that he must keep secret from his superiors”.

Abir has said his ambition is not simply to tell a detective story but to set it against the background of racist British attitudes when the days of the Raj drew to a close and the fight for Independence became more intense.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph,Calcutta,India / Home> Calcutta / by Amit Roy / May 27th, 2018

Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels To Manage Oldest Hotel In India

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Records, All, Travel, World Opinion

Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels has entered into an agreement with the Government of West Bengal to manage the historic The Denmark Tavern, the 232-year-oldest hotel in India, in Serampore, Kolkata.

“We are delighted to manage The Denmark Tavern on behalf of the West Bengal Government. THE Park Hotels will build on the rich legacy of the Tavern and bring it and the area back to life. The hotel will soon be buzzing with guests enjoying a quiet break on the banks of Hooghly and the sights and sounds of old-world Serampore and beyond,” Priya Paul, Chairperson, Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels.

The Tavern was established in 1786 in what was then Fredricksnagore. The two-storeyed structure by the Hooghly is the place where the Danes had kept their flagstaff and cannons. The Tavern was a place to meet and stay for traders, clergy and travellers exploring Bengal.

In 2010 – 11, more than 200 years after the tavern’s heyday, a group of restoration experts studied the building that stood in complete ruins surrounded by debris. It took around two years to restore the Tavern to its former glory as part of the Serampore Initiative, a restoration programme for several Danish heritage structures led by the National Museum of Denmark and funded by Realdania, a private trust in Denmark, in collaboration with West Bengal State Heritage Commission, and Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH).The refurnished building has a cafe, inspired by the double height central atrium of the Indian Coffee House in Kolkata and six high-ceilinged spacious rooms.

The restored Denmark Tavern will fall under THE Park Collection brand of THE Park Hotels. The Park Collection is intimate, personalized, and tailored to transmit inimitable guest experiences. The Denmark Tavern will have THE Park Hotel’s design aesthetics, its impeccable services and will reverberate with Anything But Ordinary experiences. The hotel will open by September 2018.

source: http://www.traveltrendstoday.in / Travel Trends Today / Home> Hot News / by T3 News Network / May 24th, 2018

Kolkata to get first batch of women traffic cops

Business & Economy, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Records, All

Kolkata:

They have been growing steadily in numbers. They handle important assignments, including latenight duty at important crossings. And now, in a first, lady constables of Kolkata Police will be on vigil on Kolkata streets in their scooterettes — either in blue-white or in pink-black shades.

The primary job of the new brigade will be to assist cops to help out women on streets seeking help and also help cops pull up female riders who break rules. “You cannot strictly call them traffic cops. Their duty will not be the same as a traffic cop. But yes, the scooterettes — just like the Bullets — will increase our presence on the streets. We will provide all details about them once final deployment and role gets thrashed out,” said a top IPS officer at Lalbazar.

Sources said that though this new woman battalion is likely to induct scores of lady constables, around 24 of them were present during their first official appearance at Lalbazar.

On Monday, commissioner Rajeev Kumar went to the Police Training School to inspect the new battalion. “As per our initial plan, some lady constables from here will be deputed to the traffic department for on-road duty. These lady constables will help traffic police in womenrelated matters,” said an IPS officer.

“So far, we had women in senior positions but never on the road. Even men cannot easily misbehave with women,” said an officer. The practical problems though remain. Till the other day, most traffic guards did not have a dedicated ladies toilet. Neither was there any dedicated changing room or a drop-at-home at night. “We are trying to look into the practical problems and address them,” said an official at Lalbazar.

Under the present law, woman motorists cannot be pulled up for inspection by policemen in absence of female officers. Male officers posted at traffic pickets have no authority to stop a car with a woman driver.

“We need to account for the safety of women officials in our departments as well. Women officials in Kolkata Police are not many, but the numbers are fewer in the traffic department,” a senior traffic officer explained.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Kolkata News / by Dwaipayan Ghosh / TNN / May 23rd, 2018

Future hope for young rowers

Education, Records, All, Sports

Medal glory for school with a passion

The Future Hope rowers celebrate their wins with CEO Sujata Sen (second from left) and guide (standing in last row, red Tshirt) Will Allen

Lake:

Sujoy Sen was drenched in sweat but couldn’t stop jumping in joy. His parents have little idea about rowing and think their son pulls boats. The gold-winning rower thinks his real prize will be when they see him in action.

Sujoy was part of one of the three teams from Future Hope that bagged medals at the 17th BRC Students’ Rowing Championship, partnered by TTIS, on Sunday,

The Uluberia boy has been rowing for the past three years.

The junior girls’ team from Future Hope that won bronze

“A race is exciting only when the opponent is equally good. We were neck and neck with La Martiniere for Boys in today’s race and that is what made it so challenging, I enjoyed every second of it,” said Sujoy, who wants to take up rowing professionally.

The junior boys who struck gold

Future Hope won gold in the boys’ junior and senior races and bronze in the junior girls’ race.

For the girls, this was their first time at the regatta. “Juman da (rower Juman Ali) has inspired me a lot. I would love to be a professional sculler,” said Samira Khatoon of Class VIII. Her team beat National High School (CBSE).

Teammate Debasrita Das, found the competition tough but inspiring. “While rowing, we felt a certain anger and power which ultimately helped us perform,” said the Class X student. Her takeaway from her debut regatta: “It’s a team sport and each member should support the other while rowing.”

The senior boys from Future Hope finished first. Pictures by B. Halder

For Future Hope CEO, Sujata Sen, it was the sheer determination of the young rowers that fetched them success. “We don’t have money but we do have a lot of passion. The kids practise every day, be it rain, hail or storm.”

Setaur Rehman, Class XII, a part of the senior boys’ team of Future Hope, admitted there is no alternative to hard work and regular training.

“I have been rowing since six years. I have played many sports like rugby, football, cricket but rowing remains the most challenging of them all. We have to practise every day, there is no break,” said the Malda boy who wants to crack the civil services examinations while continuing rowing for life.

Guiding the Future Hope rowers this time was Will Allen, a student of Westminster School, London, who is volunteering with the school in his gap year.

“They were already going through training and practice, I just helped them do what they were already doing. When it comes to mental strength and focus, these guys are the best,” said Will, who cheered the teams throughout the races.

The rowing championship at BRC is aimed at encouraging more children to take up the sport.

“Initiatives like the BRC Students’ Rowing Championship have changed the future of the sports in Calcutta. This path-breaking effort will not only help rowing grow as a sport in the city but also help stimulate the sport’s development at the national level. This championship plays a key role in changing mindsets,” said Ujjal Dugar, the chairman of the rowing committee at Bengal Rowing Club (BRC).

Additional reporting by Rupsha Chatterjee

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph,Calcutta,India / Home> Calcutta / by Samabrita Sen / May 21st, 2018

Nasa trip for math wizard

Education, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion
Swaprabha Dey. (Kousik Sen)

Raiganj:

A Class IX student of Raiganj who topped a math Olympiad has won an educational trip to Nasa.

Swaprabha Dey, a student of St Xaviers School of the town, had stood first in the International Olympiad for Mathematics, 2017 conducted by the Delhi-based Silver Zone Foundation. He will visit Nasa on a week-long trip to the US in August this year.

“After the (Olympiad) results were announced, we were informed that he will be rewarded in cash and be taken to Nasa,” said Swaprabha’s father Sanjib Dey, a central government employee.

The boy, his parents said, is an ardent reader of science fictions. Professor Shanku, a character penned by Satyajit Ray, is one of his favourites.

“It is a matter of pride for the school,” Fr. David Raj, the school principal said.Ayesha Rani A, the DM, said the administration will “felicitate” Swaprabha for his success. “His performance has brought laurels,” said the DM.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph,Calcutta,India / Home> West Bengal / by Kousik Sen / May 20th, 2018

England to Jharkhand, sociology to midwifery

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Records, All, World Opinion

Briton married to Bengali finds new calling after living in village

Ranjan Ghosh and Lindsay Barnes. Picture by Anup Bhattacharya

Calcutta:

She is from Lancashire in north-west England, he is from Bally in Howrah. Lindsay Barnes and Ranjan Ghoshhad met in the Eighties as students at Jawaharlal Nehru University and, fired by a shared idealism and sense of adventure, set up home in a village near Bokaro.

Sometime in 1993, Lindsay was forced by circumstance to help a village woman deliver a baby. She had no medical degree, only a book to help her. Since then, Lindsay has played midwife to scores of mothers and set up a 12-bed health centre with her husband Ranjan Ghosh to provide hundreds of others a safe place to give birth.

The couple have also brought together more than 7,000 women from 120 villages under various self-help groups, with Ranjan using his expertise to induct them into microfinance.

Lindsay and Ranjan, who were in Calcutta to attend a Mother’s Day programme organised by an infertility clinic in Kasba, said they planned to train junior doctors and nurses to deliver babies under limiting circumstances in rural areas.

Health care was, of course, not a choice Lindsay had made when she started living in Chambrabad village, 25km from Bokaro. A student of sociology, she was there primarily for research on life in the coal belt when a call for help changed her calling.

“Some neighbours approached me to help a mother-to-be,” she recounted. “I was astounded. I had no clue what to do. I was trying to put them off with excuses. It was my husband who goaded me to go,” 58-year-old Lindsay told Metro.

Armed with a book titled Where there is no doctor: A village healthcare handbook, Lindsay left home to help deliver the baby. “The local women who gathered around me knew I had no knowledge of midwifery, yet they were relieved to see me. They knew I would find a way out. That’s when it hit me that I must do something to help them,” she said.

Lindsay, now a mother of two, soon started receiving similar requests from other villages. “After a few home deliveries, I decided to educate myself in hospitals and nursing homes. I learnt a little and read a lot more to perfect my job,” she said.

After almost 100 home deliveries, Lindsaybegan hiring rooms for deliveries. She set up the 12-bed health centre in 2001. “The village girls now run the health centre with minimal support from qualified doctors. I am still called to handle critical cases. Ninety-five per cent of women have normal delivery. We refer critical cases to nearby hospitals,” she said.

According to gynaecologist and infertility specialist Sudip Basu, what sets Lindsay apart is her “practical knowledge”.

“It will be good if she can train our junior doctors and nurses how to treat patients under limiting circumstances. My team, in turn, can volunteer at her health centre. We plan to replicate the model in other villages.”

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph,Calcutta,India / Home> Calcutta / by Chandreyee Ghose / May 14th, 2018