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Amrapali mango finding takers in Dubai, Hong Kong and Malaysia
Kolkata :
The little-known Amrapali mango grown in Bankura district of West Bengal has now found buyers in Dubai, Hong Kong and Malaysia.
Horticulture Department officials said mango producers in Bankura have received orders of exporting 8 metric tonnes of Amrapali to Dubai this season.
“They have started sending it after a quality test report from the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda) cleared the product,” department official Sanjoy Sengupta said.
He said the delectable taste of the mouth-watering variety has been gaining popularity gradually over the years.
Producers have been sending it to all over the country but this is the first time that any variety of mango from Bankura is getting export orders.
So far, mangoes from Malda and Murshidabad only were the famous ones in the state.
“Now we are trying to create Bankura as a brand in the world of mangoes. Our red laterite soil produces an unmatchable taste,” officials said.
Sengupta said that they were already receiving queries about the fruit from Hong Kong and Malaysia where Amrapali would be exported next year.
This year the district produced around 130 tonnes of Amrapalis in around 730 mango orchards.
The largest orchard of 84 bigha is in Damadorpur where the highest number of Amrapalis are produced.
Last year, Bankura’s Amrapali had bagged the first prize in the agri-horticulture fair in Kolkata.
At an ongoing mango festival in Delhi, where state horticulture department officials are present, Bankura is beating other districts.
“Bankura is getting more attention than any other district. The demand is so high that all our stocks are getting exhausted,” Sengupta said.
NIK MD MM DV
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kolkata / PTI / June 28th, 2016
Swings & slides to attract students – School play plan prompts space query
Calcutta :
The Bengal government has decided to install swings, slides, sea-saws and other recreational equipment in state-aided primary schools to attract more students and prevent dropouts.
But the move has also prompted questions among many education department officials on the implementation of the plan in schools that don’t have playgrounds or ample empty space.
“We want to make education more enjoyable for primary students…. Children are often deprived of games as the schools do not have the required facilities…. So we have planned to install swings, slides and other such equipment in the schools,” education minister Partha Chatterjee said in the Assembly lobby after announcing the decision in the House.
There are around 53,000 state-aided primary schools in Bengal.
In an attempt to prevent dropouts, the government has recently started distributing free shoes among students of Classes I to IV. Free textbooks and uniforms are also given to students up to Class VIII.
Minister Chatterjee also referred to the lack of space in many schools, saying the scheme would “take time” to be implemented in full.
Education department officials said scarcity of space was more acute in Calcutta schools. Although most schools in the districts have big grounds, few are equipped with recreational facilities such as swings, slides, merry-go-rounds and gyms.
“We want as many schools as possible to have such facilities…. These help in creating a conducive environment for the mental and physical development of children,” an education department official said.
Sources said the decision to set up recreational facilities in primary schools had been conveyed to authorities in most institutions.
Around 12,000 schools are said to have responded to the plan.
“The heads of many schools are still unaware of the decision. We expect a better response once the decision is communicated to all schools,” the official said.
Schools wanting to have recreational facilities on the campus have to apply to the district inspector of schools in their respective zones.
The district inspector will then conduct an inspection to ascertain what equipment can be installed. Once the district inspector approves the proposal, the government will install the facilities.
The heads of many Calcutta schools this newspaper spoke to said it was not possible for them to implement the education department’s plan.
“The move is welcome. But there is hardly any space to offer,” said the headmaster of a school in central Calcutta.
Separate panel
The government is planning to set up a separate commission to recruit non-teaching employees in state-aided schools.
The proposed commission will conduct a centralised test for recruiting the employees. But the managing committees of the schools will make the final appointments.
“We are planning to set up a central commission for recruiting non-teaching employees in state-aided schools. This will establish more transparency in the recruitment process,” education minister Chatterjee said.
At present, the West Bengal School Service Commission conducts the recruitment test for non-teaching employees.
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph,Calcutta,India / Front Page> Bengal> Story / by Our Special Correspondent / Calcutta – June 27th / Pub June 28th, 2016
Archbishop Emeritus dead
Archbishop Emeritus Henry Sebastian D’Souza, who served the Archdiocese of Calcutta from 1986-2002, passed away on Monday afternoon at Vianney Home on Middleton Row. He was 90 years old.
Archbishop Henry was born on January 20, 1926, in Calcutta and ordained as the first Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar on May 5, 1974. He became the seventh Archbishop of Calcutta on April 5, 1986.
He is known to have revolutionised the educational scenario in the Archdiocese of Calcutta through proper policies. He had a close association with Mother Teresa.
The Funeral Mass will take place at St. Thomas’ Church, Middleton Row, on Thursday at 10am.
His mortal remains will then be interred at the Lower Circular Road Cemetery.
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph,Calcutta,India / Front Page> Calcutta> Story / June 29th, 2016
Workshop on folk dances of Bengal
Kolkata :
The state information and cultural affairs department (I&CA) is organizing a workshop on Saturday involving folk dancers from different districts along with their dance groups in an initiative to revive the dying folk dance forms. The government will also distribute folk dance dresses, masks and music instruments to encourage the groups to revive the dance forms. About 70 folk dancers of five different folk dance forms will participate in the one day workshop.
According to I&CA department officials, there are a number of old folk dance forms having its origin in different districts that are slowly dying and are almost becoming obsolete. “These dance forms like Gajon, Bhandi, Chandi etc reflect the age long social, religious and cultural traditions of Bengal. However, these folk dance forms have now become dying art forms. The state government wants to revive and rejuvenate these dying dance art forms by promoting and encouraging the folk artists,” said an official.
The workshop will have dancers of five such folk dance forms – Chandi, Bhandi, Rabankata, Gajon and Swasan who will participate. Experts of such folk dance and its dresses along with researchers will also attend the workshop. The folk dancers who will participate in the workshop will also be encouraged with traditional folk dance dress, masks and instruments
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kolkata / by Suman Chakraborti, TNN / June 24th, 2016
Quiz doyen Neil O’Brien passes away
Kolkata :
Neil Aloysius O’Brien, who pioneered quizzing in India and led the Anglo-Indian community for nearly two decades, passed away in Kolkata on Friday. He was 82.
A former member of Lok Sabha, O’Brien was a three-time nominated Anglo Indian MLA in West Bengal and an educationist. He was chairman of the Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) and chairman and managing director of Oxford University Press.
But it was O’Brien the quizmaster that was the most popular. He hosted the prestigious Dalhousie Institute Invitational Quiz for more than four decades. “Extremely saddened to hear about the passing away of the very talented Neil O’Brien. He will be missed by lakhs of quiz fans across India,” CM Mamata Banerjee tweeted on hearing the news.
O’Brien is survived by his wife Joyce and sons Derek, Andy and Barry.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> India / TNN / June 25th, 2016
Restored cult films set for second take
Kolkata:
Way before Shyam Benegal directed ‘Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero’, another Hindi film was made on the freedom fighter. The Piyush Basu-directed film titled ‘Subhas Chandra’ had got the National Award for National Integration in 1966. A DVD of the Bengali version, which had Lata Mangeshkar’s cult ‘Ekbar biday de maa’ in the soundtrack, was released but the Hindi version never saw the light of day. Fifty years later, the film’s print will be restored, along with a number of Bengali classics.
In 1968, Sachin Adhikari had released ‘Pathe Holo Dyakha’, starring Bhanu Bandopadhyay, Jwahar Roy and Nripati Chattopadhyay. However, the prints of the movie weren’t good enough for a DVD release. If all goes well, the print will be restored soon. Another such Bhanu Bandopadhyay film that has never been released on DVD but might soon release is ‘Ogo Shuncho’.
Not just fresh releases of old movies, this year will see the re-release of DVDs of many Bengali films that have attained cult status. YouTube uploads, VCDs and DVDs of the original prints are available but most of these films have problems regarding fungus deposition, stabilisation, white droplet issues, stains, patches and vertical line formation. Poor audio quality is also a major headache. Dialogues are often inaudible and there is a lot of noise in the background. However, things are looking up what with copyright holders now understanding the importance of preservation.
One such important film that is being restored is KS Saigal’s Bengali film ‘Jeevan Maran’. “Gopalkrishna Gandhi, the former governor of West Bengal, had released a DVD of this movie. But we had used the original print. Hence, the quality had suffered. Now, we have decided to restore this film and re-release it,” said Abhay Tantia, the founder of Angel Video that owns the rights of the film.
In the pipeline is restoration work of Mrinal Sen’s ‘Chorus’, ‘Ek Din Pratidin’, Soumitra Chatter-starrer ‘Baghini’ and ‘Monihar’, Robi Ghosh-starrer ‘Aashite Ashiona’, Tarun Mazumdar-directed ‘Palatak and ‘Sreeman Prithviraj’. The 1964-Rajen Tarafdar film titled ‘Jiban Kahini’ is also expected to get restored soon. Work is currently on progress for Soumitra Chatterjee-starrer ‘Ajona Sapath’.
However, restoration work of such films is a pain-staking job. One minute of a shot has at least 1500 frames. “Each frame has to be restored individually. On an average, restoring of a film requires Rs 4 lakh. We have 20 technicians working on three shifts. Yet, it takes more than a month to complete one film,” said Sushanta Das, who is overseeing the project.
However, restoration of classics doesn’t ensure huge dividends. “It’s not financially very rewarding. But monetary rewards is not always the concern when we are dealing with cult films,” said Akshay Tantia, who considers it his responsibility to preserve Bengal’s culture.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kolkata / by Priyanka Dasgupta / TNN / June 23rd, 2016
Wales defender with Kolkata roots stamps his class on Euro
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HIGHLIGHTS
Neil Taylor’s mother, Shibani Chakraborty , is a Bengali from Kolkata. The half-Welsh, halfIndian footballer is the closest to Indian involvement in Euro.
Neil had scored the second goal in a 3-0 thumping of Russia that enabled Wales top Group B and earn the debutant nation a place in the last 16 of Euro.
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New Delhi:
The comments on Neil Taylor’s official Facebook page are both euphoric and cheeky . One says, “Huw….if Ronaldo asks you to swap shirts, tell him to get stuffed…you only swap with goal scorers.” Another comment teases the 27-year-old left full-back on his first ever goal for Wales.”Neil. You scored. How.”
But for any Indian reading the 150 plus comments to Neil’s Monday night post, this one really catches the eye. “Well played lad! Proud of your Bengali origin! Lots of love & well wishes from Bangladesh.”
Neil had scored the second goal in a 3-0 thumping of Russia that enabled Wales top Group B and earn the debutant nation a place in the last 16 of Euro. He never scored for Swansea, the EPL side he plays for.
Not many know that Neil Taylor’s mother, Shibani Chakraborty , is a Bengali from Kolkata. The half-Welsh, halfIndian footballer is the closest to Indian involvement in Euro. As a child, Neil played cricket for his village side in north Wales though football is what he was always devoted to. “Sachin Tendulkar is a huge character and sportsman to me,” he once told The Independent newspaper.
In interviews to British newspa pers, Neil comes across as someone proud of his Indian roots. In 2013, he had visited Kolkata as part of a charity project, Kolkata Goalz, to promote the game among under privileged kids.Earlier as a nine-year-old he had visited the city -a trip to Eden Garden and playing with colours in Holi -being two indelible images of that visit. “What I remembered of the country was that it is just cricketmad. But when I went out this time I saw the change. It was monsoon and you couldn’t even take your feet out of the grass. Sopping! But all the young people were playing football,” he told the newspaper.
Late Monday night, Neil had posted, “What a feeling.. What a night in Toulouse!! The Wales fans were unbelievable, thank you for your support. A night to remember at Euro 2016!!” Neil began his career as a junior at Manchester City . But at 15, he joined the 152-year-old Wrexham, the oldest Welsh club and the third oldest in the world. He made his international debut against Croatia in 2010.
In an interview to BBC earlier this month, his mother said, “Ever since he was a child that’s all he’s wanted to do, play football. He mis sed all his school discos and friends’ birthday parties because, at that time, he was playing for Manchester City (junior team).We’d drive him three times a week to Manchester and back when he was about nine or 10 and not once did he say, ‘Mum, do I have to go?’ He used to sit in the back of the car and do his homework.”
A November 2015 BBC reports says that as people of Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin form 5.3% of the 56 million population in England and Wales as per 2011 census. Yet Neil is just one of the seven Asian players with a professional contract in the top four English leagues.”Wolves centre-back Danny Batth and Mansfield left-back Malvind Benning are the only others from the group who play regular first-team football,” the report says.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Delhi / TNN / June 22nd, 2016
21st
JU offers rare live recordings for free listening
Kolkata :
Imagine being present at a mehfil where Begum Akhtar is presenting a ghazal. Imagine listening to a house concert of Annapurna Devi. Imagine listening to Ustad Amir Khan singing a bandish in Persian. All these can be a part of reality if one goes to Jadavpur University’s School of Cultural Text and Records (SCTR). On World Music Day today, any connoisseur can walk into the kiosks set up in the school and listen to the treasure trove of archived music. The best part is that all that comes free of cost!
Director of the School, professor Amlan Das Gupta said, “Collectors from across India have generously donated to this archive that was set up in 2003. The work done here helps in cultural preservation.” In a country where rare records and tapes are lost at regular intervals, such an endeavour has been welcomed by all.
Barring weekends, the archive storing more than 10,000 hours of music is open to any listener between 11 am and 5 pm. Musicologist Anindya Banerjee donated rare live recordings of courtesans like Malkajaan, Bade Moti Bai, Rasoolan Bai and Siddheswari Devi to this archive. “I’ve donated rare live recordings of my guru, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan’s rendition of ‘Lankadahan Sarang’ too,” Banerjee said.
Some years back, Delhi-based collector James Stevenson had sent an aluminium trunkload of cassettes by train. Many still talk about the excitement of receiving that trunk at the Howrah station and then transporting a slice of history to the School. Resoom Pal, an intern at SCTR, said, “I was floored to stumble upon Vidushi Annapurna Devi’s surbahar recital in raag ‘Kaushiki’ and ‘Manjh Khamaj’ from this collection.” All recordings are of superior quality than what is available at any online portal, insists Shantanu Majee, project fellow of SCTR. “We try to preserve these tracks in audio files of superior quality that are uncompressed and preserved in large ‘WAV’ format. This is possibly sound at its best quality,” Majee said.
Some years back, collector Ghulam Naeem donated his collection of spool recordings from house concerts at his residence. In the 70s, Naeem used to import spools to record the programmes! After digitization, the clarity and sound precision of these recordings are of international standards.
One such recording is from a mehfil of Begum Akhtar where she sang a rare ‘ghato’ song – ‘Jal jaumuna bharan ke jaun sajni’ – that was usually sung when women went to fetch water. This ‘ghato’ song leads on to another song – ‘Chha rahi kari ghata’ – in the same recital. Arnab Ghosh, PhD scholar at the JU’s Bengali department, was pleasantly surprised when he discovered a live recording of Ustad Amir Khan’s recital of raga ‘Yaman’ in this collection.
“It was a revelation to hear Khan sahab sing ‘Shah Ze Karam Bar Man-E-Darvesh Negar’ by Amir Khusrau. Listening to such superior quality of music is as good as reliving the live performance,” Ghosh said.
So, what are you waiting for? Just pick up the headphones and let the music play!
Rare recordings:
The Hemanga Biswas archive includes the legendary folk singer’s world music collection of English contralto singer Kathleen Ferrier and German actress and singer Gisela May.
Apart from his created ragas like ‘Chandranandan’, ‘Alamgiri’ and ‘Gaurimanjuri’, this archive also has rare recordings of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan playing raag ‘Gour Sarang’, ‘Barhans Sarag’ and ‘Maligaura’.
One house concert has Ustad Vilayat Khan exploring various kinds of raag ‘Kannada’. This leisurely performance is almost like a lecture demonstration.
There is a recording of Ustad Allauddin Khan playing raag ‘Nat’ and ‘Darbari Kanada’ in sursringar. A rare interview of the maestro with Bhopal radio has him singing raag ‘Komal Bhimpalasri’ and raag ‘Sugadh’.
Pt Ravi Shankar’s early 1950s rendition of raag ‘Mian ki Todi’ and ‘Aalahiya Bilawal’ at the Dixon Lane residence of guru Gyan Prakash Ghosh.
A pre-independence duet of Vidushi Annapurna Devi and Pt Ravi Shankar playing raag ‘Yaman Kalyan’ at Delhi’s Constitution Hall.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kolkata / by Priyanka Dasgupta / TNN / June 21st, 2016