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Sarat library without a librarian

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Leaders, Records, All, Travel

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Factfile

Name:Sarat Smriti Granthagar
Estd: 1956
Address: Village and PO – Panitras, PS – Bagnan
No. of members: 1,029
Membership fees: Rs 2 per month for general members, free for children
Rare books: Collection of old volumes from Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s personal library

Panitras in Bagnan is popularly known as Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s home. Not only did Sarat Chandra live here, but his sister’s house was also in Gobindapur, in Bagnan. Sarat Chandra’s house in Panitras is now a tourist attraction and a heritage property. However, there are many other things in this village that are associated with the novelist. The local library is dedicated to him. It was named Sarat Smriti Granthagar by the local people, who started it in 1956. Sarat Mela is held on the ground adjoining the library.

Some of Sarat Chandra’s belongings are also displayed at the library. An inkpot, a porcelain pen holder, an old pair of slippers, a torch, a hukkah and also a small wooden writing table. Although these have heritage value, the library authorities can only afford to keep these things stacked on top of an old cupboard. Interested people can take a look by bringing them down.

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Sarat Smriti Granthagar was started by the local people who wanted to promote education in this area. Sarat Chandra being a popular figure at that time, they decided to name the library after him. It started functioning from a mud house in the locality. Some years later, in 1960, a permanent structure came up where the library now stands. In the same year, it became a government-sponsored library and in 1987 it was given the status of a town library. The total membership of the library now stands at 1,029 out of which only 235 are active members. The children’s section has 371 members, most of whom are students of the nearby schools, Panitras Boys’ School and Samta Sarat Chandra Uchha Balika Vidyalaya.

“Almost all students from the two schools come to this library for membership. Since we have a huge collection of reference books, they find it easier to study here,” said Gaurav Guria, a staff at the library. Students find this library useful since many old textbooks that have gone out of print, are available here. “Students studying in college or doing their post graduation in Bengali, often tell us that many of the texts here cannot be found in the market anymore,” said Guria. The library also has a career guidance section, which is useful to those studying for competitive exams.

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Although it is a popular library in this part of Howrah, Sarat Smriti Granthagar is operating without a librarian for more than two years. “The librarian and the assistant librarian retired some years back and both positions are lying vacant. A librarian was appointed for a year here in 2011, but after he left, no one has been appointed. The district library authorities are aware of the fact that there is no librarian at our library. However, they have not managed to appoint anyone in this position so far. So it is up to us to run the library on our own,” said Guria. The retired assistant librarian was asked to look into the running of the library, however, he could not continue due to illness.

The library has 11,245 titles. A collection of 133 encyclopaedias, gazettes and other books used by Sarat Chandra has been kept in this library. Copies of the Indian Quarterly Register and Indian Annual Register of 1920, 1925, 1929 and other years, are part of the novelist’s collection. Volumes of Nelson’s Encyclopaedia used by the author are also here. The books have been bound and preserved well. “The Howrah Municipal Corporation has taken initiative in 1999 to preserve these books,” said Guria.

Grants come regularly to the town library. It receives Rs 48,000 as annual grant. In 2010-11, the library received a computer from Raja Rammohun Roy Library Foundation (RRRLF).

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta / Front Page> Howrah> Story / by Dalia Mukherjee / Friday – December 12th, 2014

The men of Bally Granthagar

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Records, All

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They are called ‘the men of the library’ because they are dedicated voluntary workers of the library. They help in cataloguing books, exchanging or issuing new books and even dusting the shelves — the members of Bally Sadharan Granthagar Karmisangha are as good as library staff, only they do it not for a salary but out of love for their local library.

Formed in Bengal in 1940, the group comprised dedicated library workers, who would help the library staff in all activities. The Karmisangha was formed under the leadership of Ratanmoni Chattopadhyay and the first director was Pravat Kumar Mukhopadhyay.

Over the years, Karmisangha has increased in size and activities. In 1981, when Bally Sadharan Granthagar became a government sponsored town library, Karmisangha was also registered as an association of library workers. Most of the library’s activities depend on the members of Karmisangha. The children’s section is entirely managed by these voluntary workers.

At present there are 88 members of Bally Sadharan Granthagar Karmisangha and any new entrant has to prove his or her dedication towards the library in order to be a member of the association. “Members are inducted on the basis of their dedication. Those who are regular visitors to the library and show interest in library activities are later inducted as members,” said Sumit Mukherjee, a member of the Karmisangha since 1975

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“In our schooldays, our fathers or uncles would drag us to the library and make us remove the books and clean the shelves and also help in stock taking. We still do that once a year and also help the librarians and staff in indexing new books. The library is huge and the amount of work that accumulates is difficult for the staff to complete on their own,” added Mukherjee.

The traditional practice of inducting members includes taking an oath on Janmastami. “Janmastami is the foundation day of Karmisangha and new members are inducted on this day. A sloka from the Geeta on Karma is read out after which the new members take the oath,” said Utpal Kumar Mukhopadhyay, the secretary of Karmisangha.

Karmisangha is celebrating its diamond jubilee this year with a variety of activities. A special screening of mountaineer trekker, Anindya Mukherjee’s cycling expedition from the Equator to the Tropic of Capricorn in Africa was done on one evening at the library seminar hall. The biggest event is the annual Soumen Charukala Utsav that continues for a month from November to December. A special workshop on masks will be held this year where school students will take part.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta / Front Page> Howrah> Story / by Dalia Mukherjee / Friday – December 12th, 2014

Call of the wild – Book Bazaar

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature

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The launch of environmentalist Biswajit Roy Chowdhury’s book, Days In The Wild, was marked by a call to be sensitive to nature and protect wildlife.

Helen LaFave, the consul-general of US in Calcutta, who was present at ICCR for the book launch, remembered her trip to the Sunderbans with the author.

“Biswajit Roy Chowdhury took me on a trip to the Sunderbans and it was a wonderful experience. For many years, Roy Chowdhury has been putting in a great effort to make us realise the urgency of conserving nature. Even though I haven’t managed to read the book, I was struck by the beautiful pictures. It clearly reflected the sheer expertise of photography and made us aware of the different species of animals and birds inhabiting our planet,” she said.

Roy Chowdhury remembered growing up in a small rural town of Bihar where the call of the wild was common. “In my childhood, I watched with great interest rare species of birds. However, thanks to hunting and poaching, now I have to travel hundreds of miles for a glimpse of many species that are fading away. Through my books, I want to harp on this.”

Author’s journey

City-born author Devdan Chaudhuri’s debut novel, the Tibor Jones South Asia Prize 2013-nominated Anatomy of Life, was launched at the Oxford Bookstore recently.

The evening began with a call to “embark on a journey of dissection” as Anjana Basu, author and marketing consultant, discussed and questioned the author’s motives and intentions regarding the characters, setting and narrative of the novel. An intriguing feature of the book is that none of the characters in the book has a name; they are described using terms such as “the poet”, “the pianist”, “the sweetheart” and so on.

The narrator in the book is not just a poet but also a journalist, a philosopher as well as a former economist, much like the author himself. So is the protagonist a reflection of the author? “All novels are partly fictional and partly autobiographical. So it is not surprising that the narrator is similar to me. I needed a character who was sensitive and intellectual enough to be able to embark on a journey the book takes you on,” said Chaudhuri, whose favourite authors are Milan Kundera and Albert Camus.

The Pan Macmillan India edition (Rs 350) has on its cover a striking photograph of an empty jacket hanging against a barren background. Explained the choice, Pinaki De, assistant professor of English at Raja Peary Mohan College, Uttarpara, said: “Since this book is an inquest of the self, we do not always reveal ourselves completely. A part of us remains hidden and that is what the jacket signifies”.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta / Front Page> Calcutta> Story / Text by Tanisha Bagchi and Abhinanda Datta / Sunday – December 14th, 2014

Triumph Opens New Showrooms in Kolkata and Chandigarh

Business & Economy

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Triumph Motorcycles India inaugurated two new showrooms, one in Chandigarh and the other in Kolkata. With these two showrooms, Triumph has a total of 10 dealerships on India with presence in cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kochi, Pune, Ahmedabad, Delhi and Mumbai.

The Kolkata dealership is named Mukesh Triumph and is located at Matheswartala Road; while Krishna Automobiles is the new dealership in Chandigarh’s Industrial Area. The company has not been around in India for even a year but has already received 1000 bookings across 5 model categories.

Vimal Sumbly, Managing Director, Triumph Motorcycles India Pvt Ltd, said, “With the launch of Triumph Motorcycles in Kolkata and Chandigarh, we are committed to setting new benchmarks in providing high quality service experience to our brand enthusiasts and prospects in every part of India.”

The Triumph motorcycles line-up in India includes the Triumph Bonneville and Bonneville T100, the Triumph Speed Triple, the Triumph Rocket III Roadster, the Triumph Street Triple, the cafe racer Triumph Thruxton, the Triumph Tiger 800 XC and Tiger Explorer, the Triumph Thunderbird Storm, the Triumph Thunderbird LT and the super sports Triumph Daytona 675 and 675R. Though these bikes between Rs. 5.7 lakh to Rs. 20 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), the overwhelming response the company has got speaks volumes of the fan base Triumph has in India.

source: http://www.auto.ndtv.com / NDTV Auto / Home> NDTV Auto> News / by NDTV Auto Team / November 28th, 2014

IIT-Kharagpur conclave a stepping stone for budding entrepreneurs

Business & Economy, Education, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Kolkata :

Students of IIT-Kharagpur will get the opportunity of rubbing shoulders with renowned academics, new-age entrepreneurs, eminent business personalities and successful venture capitalists over three days in January when the premier B-school organizes the sixth edition of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES 2015).

Companies like Microsoft, IBM, Intel, Flipkart, Amazon Web Services, BSE, Deloitte and other corporate giants will hold workshops between January 16 and 18, focusing on the entrepreneurial acumen of participants. IIT-Kharagpur’s entrepreneurship cell, which is organizing the event, has already undertaken various activities on the same lines, including the pan-India entrepreneurship awareness drive. Following the successful culmination of the drive, which saw close to 25,000 applicants participating from 24 cities last year, the e-cell is now moving on to the flagship event.

The previous edition of GES has seen people like India TV founder Rajat Sharma, Aakash tablet founder Suneet Singh, serial entrepreneur Dominique Trempont, Forbes columnist and Silicon Valley entrepreneur Srimana Mitra, renowned social entrepreneur Harish Hande, former ICICI Bank deputy manager Nachiket Mor and naukri.com founder Sanjeev Bhickchandani participating. Even this year, the organizers are trying to rope in a star-studded panel.

GES is the only such conference of entrepreneurship that will serve as a conclave for discussion of opportunities and programmes aimed towards promoting entrepreneurship in various universities across the world. It will host a global business model competition, Empresario, powered by Viligro, which saw entries from around the country at the preliminary round in October. The finals of the competition will be part of GES where the winners will get a direct entry into the semi-finals of the International Business Model Competition.

The other important event is the start-up camp that will involve interaction of entrepreneurs and students where start-ups will recruit the finest talent for internships or jobs while giving them an opportunity to meet to meet the CEOs in campus.

Unlike previous years, GES 2015 will be an invite-only summit where only specific colleges will be able to send their delegations.

“IIT’s entrepreneurship cell aims at supporting budding entrepreneurs. GES will prove to be the ultimate stage for propagating the cause,” said Deepak Kumar Jha, a member of the e-cell, IIT.

GES 2015 has Flipkart as its title sponsor along with sponsors like IBM, Villgro, VMware, Fedena, Haier, Air India and the WBIDC.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / TNN / December 12th, 2014

It’s time to celebrate for Calcutta Diocese

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All

Kolkata :

The Diocese of Calcutta turns 200 this year and a year-long programme has been planned to celebrate the occasion, it was announced at the Bishop’s House on Wednesday. The Bishop, Diocese of Calcutta, Rt Reverend Ashoke
Biswas said a plot has been earmarked near St Thomas College, Kidderpore, for a human resource centre. A shelter
home will also be built.

“In past 200 years, through its 25 institutions, the Diocese has imparted education to millions of students in Kolkata and the suburbs. Our institutions boast of having Swami Vivekananda, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Mrinal Sen and Manna Dey, along with many other luminaries, as our alumni,” Rt Revd Biswas said. “The Diocesan Board of Social Service covers 51 villages in South 24-Parganas and the primary focus is to mobilize women and youth by forming organizations to address food rights and livelihood issues. Youths are engaged in the entrepreneurship development and are also given vocational training,” he added while going on to list more programmes undertaken by the Diocese.

The announcement of the year-long celebrations came in presence of Revd Abir Adhikary, secretary and joint convener of the bicentenary celebrations, Revd Nigel Pope, the vicar of St Paul’s Cathedral church and celebrations convener and St James school principal T H Ireland.

The inaugural programme starts with worship service at St Paul’s in the afternoon, followed by a ceremony and cultural programme on Sunday. On February 7, a marathon for peace will be organized. March 7-8 will witness an inter-church cricket tournament. March 28 will see a women’s meet, where issues of empowerment and relevant topics will be discussed. Events will take place every month for exactly one year, when President Pranab Mukherjee is likely to be present for the closing ceremony.

Teachers and children will also enjoy their events, like an inter-school and pastorate basketball tournament in May, a children’s summer camp in June, inter-school football tournament in end-July, a Teacher’s Day celebration in September and a children’s fair on November 14.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / TNN / December 11th, 2014

Birla High teacher in Top 50 list for $1million education award

Education, Records, All

Kolkata :

Scared of Maths? Try synchronized dance and ludo, or even origami. Thanks to the idea, Hira Prasad, a city teacher, is in the fray for a mind-boggling $1 million global education award for marrying art and craft with mathematics.

Prasad, the assistant headmistress at Birla School for Boys junior section, is the only one from Kolkata and among three teachers in India to be shortlisted in the top 50 contenders for the big-ticket Varkey GEMS Foundation Global Teacher Prize. The final list was drawn from 5000-odd applicants from 120+ countries.

“Whenever I introduce a new concept, I’m tapping a weak part of the brain. Creative elements are of paramount importance when facing something that might seem difficult at first. So in Class IV, while learning factors and multiples, students — a group of six — are asked to dance to peppy music. They have to dance but maintain one line. So they learn that one is a factor of six and six is a multiple of one,” Prasad explained. Next, the students are asked to form two rows, then three, and they understand two and three too are factors of six.

Principal Mukta Nain said it’s not only a motivation for students but also for teachers. “She is a wonderful teacher, tech-savvy and full of innovation,” she said. “With the innovative methods, students are learning even while making a fruit salad,” added Loveleen Saigal, the headmistress of the junior section.

Prasad’s former students give full credit to her efforts. CA aspirant Nami Patni, 22, told TOI: “Initially, I wasn’t strong in Maths. But the novel method of teaching in our school was a turning point. In the CBSE Boards, I got 95 in Maths.”

Class VII student Naman Bhutoria said: “I used to be confused about addition-subtraction but when Ma’am used her unique teaching methods, it became clear. We were first introduced to lines and angles through yoga asanas. In my Class-VI annual exams I got 90%.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / by Shounak Ghosal, TNN / December 10th, 2014

Fiat in the race for replacing Ambassador cabs in Kolkata

Business & Economy

Fiat is the latest automobile manufacturer after Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki to join the race in taxi race in Kolkata. Incidentally, the taxi segment in the City of joy was run by Hindustan Motors’ Ambassador. However, the production of this legendary car was stopped sometime back, making it necessary to find a replacement for the taxi battalion in Kolkata. Maruti was the first one to offer a replacement followed by Tata Motors. Now, a third contender has emerged in the form of Fiat.

Hindustan Motors, which used to produce the Ambassador at the Uttarpara facility in the district of Hooghly in West Bengal, has suspended the process. This has brought the curtains on the monopoly of Ambassadors in the taxi segments, which was prevalent for several decades. In the meantime, automobile companies like Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki have started running their exclusive models for grabbing a hold of the taxi market.

Fiat is planning to launch an especially stripped-down version of its mid-sized sedan, Linea for this purpose. Nagesh Basavanhalli, the president and managing director of the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles India was present in Kolkata on the occasion of the launch of its MUV Avventura. He said, “We hope to get the approval for this from West Bengal soon. We have already started to sell the model in the taxi market of Mumbai and Delhi.” Sanjay Patodia, the managing director of Austin, a leading car dealership company in the city that now deals Fiat cars, said, “Maruti’s Dzire and Tata Motors’ Indigo has already started to take advantage of Ambassador’s absence. The state transport department recently announced to give permit to 3,000 new taxis. I think, Fiat Linea, would also be potential replacement in this segment.”

Fiat in the race for replacing Ambassador cabs in Kolkata
Fiat in the race for replacing Ambassador cabs in Kolkata

Linea has a price tag of seven lakhs INR, while the stripped-down model will be of the price range of 6.22 lakhs INR, whereas Ambassador was priced at 5.6 lakhs INR. Tata Motors had launched a non-power steering, non-AC, Euro-IV Tata Indigo model at 5 lakhs INR price range last year. Also, Maruti had launched a stripped-down Dzire sometime further back. Fiat will definitely increase the competition of filling in the void created by the suspension of the production of Ambassador.

source: http://www.cartrade.com / CarTrade.com / Car Trade Home> Car News> Fiat / by Roger D’Souza / November 24th, 2014

World’s first mangrove zoo in Sunderbans: Mamata

Uncategorized
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee with singer Abhijit during the inuaguration of several government aided projects at Sunderbans in South 24 Parganas district on Monday. / PTI
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee with singer Abhijit during the inuaguration of several government aided projects at Sunderbans in South 24 Parganas district on Monday. / PTI

Addressing a gathering at Jharkhali in Sunderbans, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Monday that the industrialists accompanying her on the trip would invest in the tourism industry, which would result in employment generation for the local youths.

Describing proposed tourism projects in Sunderbans as pro-people and pro-environment, Ms. Banerjee announced that land had been identified for the world’s first mangrove zoo which will house rare and endangered animals of the Sunderbans.

“The project will be completed in five years,” she said. It will cost Rs. 25 crore.

Ms Banerjee also said that she would ‘do whatever it takes’ to make Sunderbans the primary destination for tourists.

Ms. Banerjee also inaugurated a Tiger Rescue Centre, which will have capacity to look after six injured tigers.

“We have given about Rs. 2 crore for the project,” she said. Ms. Banerjee laid the foundation stone of the Rs. 400 crore eco-tourism project that will come up under public-private partnership.

She also inaugurated a bridge that will connect Mathurapur and Patharpratima in South 24 Parganas.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kolkata / by Staff Reporter / Kolkata – December 09th, 2014

Maidan battle tank shifts to new location, Mig-27 to be part of display

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence

Kolkata :

The battle tank that was kept on the maidan close to the east gate of Fort William (facing Park Street) has been shifted to a new location on St George’s Gate Road. The tank, a war trophy from the 1971 Indo-Pak War, has been placed on an ‘island’ between the two flanks of the road close to the head office of the Hooghly River Bridge Commissioners (HRBC).

“We plan to create a tri-services exhibit on the island. We have asked the Indian Air Force (IAF) for the shell of a Mig-27 aircraft and the Navy for an anchor. The tank, aircraft and anchor will be part of an exhibit at the spot. The HRBC has done a wonderful job at developing the island. The aircraft is expected to arrive in the next 10 days,”said Maj Gen Harsh Kakkar, chief of staff, Bengal Area.

The Army wants to put up more exhibits around the city to create awareness about India’s military history. Till now, there were two battle tanks in the Maidan area. One is the Chaffee tank that was shifted to St George’s Gate Road and the other one is a Vijayanta Tank close to Babughat. The Army has also made plans for proper upkeep of the trophies.

Chaffee tanks were made in the US and used by the Pakistan Army in the 1971 War. At that time, these were considered one of the best light battle tanks in the world. India pitted the indigenous Vijayanta tanks against the Chaffees. The Vijayantas were India’s first indigenous tanks built under licence from Vickers, UK.

“The 1971 War was fought from Kolkata but this is a city that doesnat have sufficient war trophies on display. Other cities have a large number of them. There is need to exhibit more of them in the city. There is sufficient space in the Maidan which is anyways under the control of the Army. This will be the first time that a Mig-27 aircraft will be on display in Kolkata. There are a couple of Mig-21s, one of them inside Nicco Park. The Mig-21s were used in the 1971 War but the Mig-27s came in later and were India’s first ground attack aircraft. They will be phased out soon,” an officer said.

Officers feel that government offices, educational institutions and even private establishments that have sufficient space should ask for these trophies from the Army and IAF to put up on display.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / by Jayanta Gupta, TNN / December 04th, 2014