All posts by wellnmed@gmail.com

Filmmaker Anjan Das passes away

Uncategorized
Anjan Das
Anjan Das

Filmmaker Anjan Das, who had won two national awards, breathed his last on Monday in a hospital here, his family said.

He was admitted to the hospital on May 8 after he fell ill. The director in his 60s, best known for his films like Shaanjhbatir Rupkathara (strokes and silhouettes) and Jara Brishtite Bhijechilo (those drenched in rain), had been battling liver cancer.

Mourning Mr. Das’s death, filmmaker Ashok Viswanathan said Mr. Das was suffering from jaundice as well. His body would be taken to his residence in the city and NT 1 and Technician’s Studio in Tollygunj in south Kolkata, and then to Keoratola Crematorium in south Kolkata, where his last rites would be performed, Mr. Viswanathan said.

Mr. Das entered film direction with documentaries. He directed two documentary films — The Art of Anant Malakar and Tripura — before he made his first feature film Sainik(soldier) in 1976. Although the film was a commercial failure, it earned him critical acclaim and was screened at international film festivals, including Berlin International Film Festival.

Known for making celluloid adaptations of novels, his film Shaanjhbatir Rupkathara in 2001 earned plaudits and did the rounds at various international film festivals. Starring veteran actors Soumitra Chatterjee and Indrani Halder, the film was an adaptation of poet Joy Goswami’s debut novel.

Mr. Das won his first national award for his period drama film Iti Srikanta (yours truly, Srikanta) in 2004, based on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s novel Srikanta. The film fetched him the best audiography award. He won his second national award in 2006 for Faltu (useless) which was based on writer Syed Mustafa Siraj’s story Ranir Ghater Brittanto .

Mr. Das’s next film Jara Brishtite Bhijechilo was an entrant to the Indian Panorama of International Film Festival of India in 2007. Ms. Halder, who played a leading role in the film, had bagged the best actress award at the Madrid International Film Festival. This was followed by Achin Pakhi andBanshiwala in 2010 and Bedeni (the snake charmer’s wife) in 2011.

Terming the death a big loss, filmmaker Goutam Ghosh said, “Mr. Das died an early death. We lost a very good director. He had recently finished work of his latest film and was excited about its release. I hope the film will be released soon in his memory.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Other States / by Staff Reporter / Kolkata – June 03rd, 2014

Mamata Banerjee to carve out new district in West Bengal

About Kolkata / West Bengal, Uncategorized
Alipurduar will be made a separate district after attending legal and technical issues, Banerjee said at a public meeting in Siliguri. (Source: PTI)
Alipurduar will be made a separate district after attending legal and technical issues, Banerjee said at a public meeting in Siliguri. (Source: PTI)

SUMMARY
Alipurduar will be made a separate district after attending legal and technical issues, Banerjee said

________________________________________________________________

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said a new district will be carved out for Alipurduar, a sub-division of Jalpaiguri district in West Bengal.

Alipurduar will be made a separate district after attending legal and technical issues, Banerjee said at a public meeting here.
The CM, who announced setting up a tribal development council in the region, called upon people to resist any attempt to disturb the integrity of North Bengal.

As part of the state’s plan to improve the road network, border roads to Bhutan and Nepal will be re-laid centering Siliguri, the commercial hub of North-East, Banerjee said. This will entail an expense of Rs 14,000 crore, she added.

Referring to reports that 100 days’ work project in the district was not being implemented properly in Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Coochbehar districts, Banerjee said “We need to put emphasis on the project.”

Banerjee informed about setting up medical colleges in Coochbehar and Raiganj towns in future. She said the tourism industry will be overhauled in Terai and Dooars region of Jalpaiguri.

Banerjee said as per developing transport network, a fleet of 50 new buses will come on the roads in North Bengal. She expressed hope the missing mountaineer Chhanda Gayen and her two sherpas could be found one day belying all apprehensions.

source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> India> India-Offer / Press Trust of India / Siliguri – June 02nd, 2014

Kolkata to have its own ‘London Eye’

About Kolkata / West Bengal

It is virtually impossible to enjoy Kolkata from a height of 100 meters owing to thick smog: heritage conservationists

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s promise to turn ‘Kolkata into London’ may have taken one more step with the contract of the Calcutta Eye – a 100-meter tall wheel to view Kolkata from the sky – being awarded to a UK-based company. The company was awarded the contract on Wednesday after it won the bid.

On the occasion of the declaration of the awarding of the tender, Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim said that ‘the project will probably be complete within 18 months after the work begins’. “It is expected to be completed in two years.”

But experts on the heritage structures of the city are sceptical about the Rs. 300-crore project. They feel the ‘Calcutta Eye’ will not enhance the city’s ‘cultural prestige’. The Calcutta Eye is a giant wheel with 36 air-conditioned capsules. It will rotate slowly and tourists boarding any of the comfortable capsules will be able to view the city from a height of roughly 100 meters. However, the heritage conservationists are disappointed with the project.

When contacted, G.M. Kapur, State convener of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), an NGO that works for the conservation of the country’s heritage, told The Hindu that he has ‘doubts’ about the prospects of the Calcutta Eye turning into a major tourist attraction of Kolkata.

As for the Ferris wheel (a steel structure consisting of an upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying compartments) giving tourists a bird’s eye view of the city, Mr. Kapur wondered “whether the view would turn out to be an eyesore rather than a visual pleasure considering the unplanned concrete jungle that Kolkata is.”

Experts feel that it is ‘virtually impossible’ to enjoy Kolkata from a height of 100 meters owing to the thick smog that covers the ‘City of Joy’. Mr. Kapur also said that ‘instead of copying the icon of another city of a foreign country (London Eye in the United Kingdom), the State government should have focused on something unique that suits the culture of the city’.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Other States / by Staff  Reporter / Kolkata – May 23rd, 2014