Darjeeling hotel to be pulled down – Housing complex and hotel to come up

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Travel
Mount Everest Hotel in Darjeeling. Picture by Suman Tamang
Mount Everest Hotel in Darjeeling. Picture by Suman Tamang

Hotel Mount Everest that in its hey day had hosted Mohammed Ali Jinnah and Amitabh Bachchan will soon be dismantled and a housing complex and a new hotel will come up in its place.

East India Hotels (EIH) Limited, which owns the Oberoi and Trident brand of hotels, has announced that it has sold the property to a consortium of businessmen led by B.M. Garg, a Darjeeling-based multiplex owner, for Rs 11 crore.

Today, Garg said: “The property has been bought by a consortium of businessmen. We plan to dismantle the hotel as it is a 100-year-old structure. The property was ravaged by fire and it has been closed for 30 years now.”

Garg said they had not yet finalised the details of the housing complex and the hotel that would come up.

“We have not yet given any name to our business consortium or to the project. We will soon hire an architect to work out the details of the housing complex — given its demand in Darjeeling — and a high-end modern hotel.
We plan to start work after the winter.”

The land on which the hotel stands now and two residential buildings near it — Rutland House and Newstead House — were owned by Darjeeling resident Nemy Chandra Bose.

The property, which stands on a plot measuring around 5 acres, is along Gandhi Road.The stretch was earlier known as Auckland Road.

It is hardly a kilometre away from Chowrasta and is close to the Circuit House.

Bose leased out the property to Arathon Stephen for 99 years, which was to end on December 31, 2013.

Stephen turned the property into a hotel and named it Hotel Mount Everest.

In 1925, Stephen transferred the hotel to Everest Hotels Limited.

In 1963, it was transferred to a firm called Hotel 1938 Private Limited.

In September 9, 1968, the property was transferred to East India Hotels Limited.

According to author Sanjay Biswas, who wrote the book Pahar Theke Hariye Jaowa Padachinhaguli, Jinnah had stayed at Hotel Mount Everest in 1917.

Actors like Dev Anand, Raj Kapoor, Sunil Dutt, Rajesh Khanna and Rekha had also stayed at the hotel.

Suresh Periwal, the owner of Clubside Tours and Travel, the oldest travel agency in Darjeeling that was set up in 1948, said: “It is sad that an international chain of hotels is leaving Darjeeling. Their presence in Darjeeling would have meant lot of publicity for the place.”

Periwal was one of the first residents of Darjeeling to hold his marriage reception at Hotel Mount Everest.

“The hotel was devastated by a fire on October 19, 1978, and my marriage was on November 22, 1978. The hotel authorities ensured that the reception was held there. They closed down a section of the hotel with 30 rooms and opened the remaining 40 rooms for the marriage,” Periwal said.

Hotel Mount Everest was finally shut in June 1984.

Periwal said in 1969, a double room in the hotel would cost Rs 115 a day, while a single room came for Rs 85.

Today, Garg said they were hopeful that they would be able to start the construction soon.

Asked if the land mutation was under the name of EIH Limited, he said: “As of now, no. But we are confident that all issues would be resolved soon.”

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta,India / Front Page> North Bengal > Story / by Vivek Chhetri / Friday – August 07th, 2015

Kolkata forgets Job Charnock on 325th year of his landing

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

Kolkata :

Two red wild flowers were what the city had on offer for Job Charnock on Monday, the day that marked the 325th birth anniversary of his landing in Kolkata.

Nobody knows who the kind-hearted soul was who made it a point to pay homage to the founder of the city (though the high court had quashed the claim in 2003), but unknowingly he turned out to be an exception in a city that has forgotten the day for good.

Till 2003, Charnock was considered as the founder of Kolkata. Programmes were organized at the grave to mark the historic landing, which was even considered as the birthday of Kolkata. In 1990, the tercentenary of the city was celebrated on this day with global fanfare. But post the court order, the celebrations turned muted and headed for a slow death. And on Monday, Charnock’s grave inside St John’s Church near Dalhousie Square lay as non-descript as it has been lying for years now.

The grave is certainly older than the church since Charnock died in 1692, two years after he had landed on the eastern bank of Hooghly and discovered a cluster of prosperous villages that he thought would help him set up trade for the British East India Company. It’s another matter that other European traders had already set foot in different parts of what is now known as the Hooghly district, but there is no denying that this chance decision by Charnock was to change the fate of Kolkata and the entire country.

“Despite the controversy, there is no denying the importance of the day. Had he not done that, Plassey would not have happened in 1757 and the entire history of India would have been different. The day should definitely be specially remembered,” said historian Arun Bandopadhyay, president of the Society for Preservation of Calcutta that was set up by historian Nisith Ranjan Ray. Ray, along with historian Barun De, was among those who had argued the case in favour of Charnock in 2003.

St John’s Church, too, is sad with the neglect. “Apart from maintaining the grave as a heritage structure, what else can we do? The day has a great symbolic importance and the city should come forward to observe it. The structures with which we identify the city were mostly built by the British, can we deny that? Would all this have happened had Job Charnock landed somewhere else?” said priest of the church, Pradip Nanda.

Mayor Sovan Chatterjee agreed that the KMC did not do anything to commemorate the day. “Actually there is a controversy related to whether the day is actually the city’s birthday since the court has quashed that claim, but yes, Job Charnock can be certainly celebrated for his contribution and we will collaborate with St John’s Church from next year,” Chatterjee promised.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kolkata / by Jhimli Mukherjee Pandey, TNN / August 25th, 2017

Taste of Jains from Murshidabad comes to city

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

Kolkata :

Sheherwali cuisine, unique to Jains who had settled in Murshidabad around 400 years ago, is on the cusp of becoming ‘endangered’.

Evolved from a confluence of multiple cuisines, it is still the mainstay in the Sheherwali households of Kolkata. But with community now experiencing reverse migration and the young ones moving to other cities, a shadow has been cast over the cuisine’s survival.

“The Sheherwalis are famous for their gastronomic preferences. The meals are always served in courses. The food that is to be consumed is cooked daily. The dishes served at lunch are distinct from those served at dinner with summer and winter variances as well. The tradition was kept alive for centuries by the close-knit community. But, this is gradually disintegrating with inter-community marriage becoming inevitable and their daughters landing up in Marwari, Gujarati or Punjabi Jain kitchens. Also unlike our generation, when men were primarily in business and women homemakers, today’s educated youths are professionals. Many of them migrate to other cities and even abroad. They have neither the time nor the inclination to pursue the fine art of cooking Sheherwali dishes,” said Sumitra Jhunjhunwala, a member of the Sheherwali community.

In the years to come, it will be a challenge to keep authentic dishes, like Kachhe Kela Ke Chop, Kumra ka Murabba, Saloni Mewa ke Khichdi and Kachha Aam ke Kheer, alive. Already, Mirchi ka Achaar and Kaathbel Pachak are no longer made in the Sheherwali homes in Kolkata. These are instead procured from a family in Murshidabad’s Azimganj.

A cook booklet containing Anita Dugar’s favourite dishes that her children Sujata and Priyankar had compiled after her death has recently become much sought afterwith many Sheherwali families keen to send it to their children living away hoping that they would at least try out some of the recipes to learn the art. Mindful of the threat, the Sheherwalis in Kolkata are trying to retain the tradition to the best of their ability.

Businessman Tushar Singhi, who takes much interest and pride in the cuisine, said the community patronized special cooks who prepared Sheherwali food and sweets at marriages and other community events. “Even in the community, there are some who are catering from home to keep others rooted to the taste and affinity for the cuisine,” he said.

Though there is no Sheherwali restaurant in Kolkata yet, Singhi and others are well aware that the fine essence of Sheherwali cuisine needs to travel beyond their kitchens so that others get to taste it as well. Hence, when ITC Hotels approached Murshidabad Heritage Development Society to showcase Sheherwali cuisine, the community was delighted.

“In its endeavor to enable Indian cuisine its rightful place in the global culinary scape, ITC Hotels accords special emphasis on showcasing regional Indian cuisines while presenting global dining concepts, perfected on Indian soil. This initiative under the aegis of Kitchens of India will showcase Indian’s wealth of unique, undiscovered, royal and forgotten cuisines. Sheherwali is the first of the series. Sheherwali cuisine is a vegetarians paradise, in which Bengali meets Rajasthani, Afghan, Mughal, Awadhi and even several European culinary practices, making it a unique mix of ingredients and flavors that tantalizes the palate,” said ITC Sonar master chef Mayank Kulshreshtha. The cuisine will be on offer at Eden Pavilion in ITC Sonar from August 25 to 30 as part of dinner buffet.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kolkata / by Subhro Niyogi, TNN / August 24th, 2015

Devdas: A classic is back home

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

India succeeds in obtaining rare original print of talkie version of ‘Devdas’

In a priceless acquisition, the National Film Archive of India (NFAI), after decades of negotiation, has finally succeeding in obtaining a rare original print of the country’s first talkie version of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay classic novella, Devdas, from the Bangladesh government on Monday.

The 1935 version was filmed in Bengali and was directed by the legendary Pramathesh Barua, who cast himself in the title role of the doomed, narcissistic lover. Mr. Barua’s film was a blistering critique of Indian feudal mores and customs.

Such was Mr. Barua’s passion for the literary classic that he remade it twice, helming it in Hindi in 1936 with iconic singer K.L. Saigal in the role of Devdas and in 1937 again in Assamese, with the renowned theatre actor-playwright Phani Sarma in the titular role.

All Indian prints of this version were lost decades ago in a fire that destroyed the Kolkata-based New Theatres, which produced this film.

A severely mangled copy of the film, the only one, was traced by the NFAI to the Bangladeshi Film archives in the 1970s.

A Bangladeshi delegation led by Ministry of Information Secretary Martuza Ahmad met with NFAI Director Prakash Magdum and handed over the print of the film.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Cities> Kolkata / by Shoumojit Banerjee / Pune – August 18th, 2015

Young in age, big in achievement

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Science & Technology

Winners of the first edition of Siddha and Camellia Group present ABP Ananda’s Sera Bangali, Kalker Sera Ajke, 2015, at GD Birla Sabhagar on Thursday

(From left) Artist Pitambar Khan, International Junior Science Olympiad winner Debaditya Pramanik, shooter Ayonika Paul, actor Riddhi Sen, writer Ritika Nath and singer Lagnajita Chakraborty. The award salutes talented young Bengalis in the field of science, art and culture. Picture by Pradip Sanyal
(From left) Artist Pitambar Khan, International Junior Science Olympiad winner Debaditya Pramanik, shooter Ayonika Paul, actor Riddhi Sen, writer Ritika Nath and singer Lagnajita Chakraborty. The award salutes talented young Bengalis in the field of science, art and culture. Picture by Pradip Sanyal

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta,India / Front Page> Calcutta> Story / Friday – August 21st, 2015

Reel-life memories of a real actor

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

SoumitraChatterjeeKOLKATA20aug2015

Kolkata :

How did Satyajit Ray cast Soumitra Chatterjee in ‘Apur Sansar’ ? How did Chhabi Biswas teach Chatterjee to say his dialogues? How did Tapan Sinha hand-hold him to teach him how to walk properly while preparing to act in ‘ Kshudhita Pashan’ ? On Wednesday evening, the 80-year-old Dadasaheb Phalke award winner came over to the TOI office for a chat and effortlessly dug into his life to relive the memories of his screen journey. Added to that was his rendition of two Tagore poems and a special autograph for the TOI family. It was one of the most treasured events at the TOI office in the recent past.

Director Shiboprasad Mukhopadhyay, who was the anchor of the evening, started off remembering how he and co-director Nandita Roy had approached Chatterjee to do a one-scene role in ‘Alikh Sukh’ that later on went on to become the heart of the movie. ” After hearing our script, he immediately asked us when we would begin shooting. That response was a huge gift for us. After ‘Alikh Sukh’ , we went on to do ‘ Belaseshe’ with him,” Mukhopadhyay said, before asking Chatterjee to share in his own inimitable style how Ray had got around to casting him as Apu.

Fascinating recollections of his tryst with Ray, how he has lost a diary that he had penned on Apu, some known and a lot unknown tales of his interaction with the master director flew thick and fast. ” When Tapan Sinha had offered to cast me in ‘ Kshudhita Pashan’ after watching ‘Apur Sansar’ , I had first told Manik-da (Ray) about it. Manik-da emphatically insisted that I do the film. Tapan-da was so methodical in his teaching. He had got the sets ready some 25 days in advance so that I could master the gait of my character,” Chatterjee said, before adding how Ray and Sinha had so many things in common.

” Neither of them wanted to repeat themselves. Manik-da was so protective about his actors that even the most insignificant actor would feel that his contribution was valuable. He treated everyone as equals. Tapan-da also knew how to get the best out of his actors. They both liked a sublime form of acting,” he pointed out.

Not many are aware of an incident when Ray, Uttam Kumar and Chatterjee had been given the responsibility by Tollywood to talk to the government to address the power-cut issues in the studios. ” While travelling together, Manik-da had admitted to us that he had stopped writing scripts for elderly actors after Chhabi Biswas had passed away. I was young then. On a lighter vein, I had told Manik-da that the day Uttam-da and I grow old, he might start thinking of writing movies with elderly actors.”

While Chatterjee continued with his talk, Mukhopadhyay requested him to repeat how Uttam Kumar had taught him to be unapologetic about asking for retakes if he wasn’ t happy with a scene. ” When Uttam-da asked for retakes, it seemed as if he was doing the director a favour by asking so,” Chatterjee smiled.

Another story on how Ray had drawn an impromptu replica of the postal stamp on an inland letter for ‘Sonar Kella’ was no less exciting. While Ray stories, obviously, took up most of the chat, Chatterjee also spoke at length about his interaction with Biswas. Stories of how everyone, including director Ajoy Kar, would be petrified of Biswas’ commanding personality on the sets were punctuated by micro-acting sessions of Chatterjee showing how exactly Biswas would react on the sets. ” Chhabi-da had a very sharp memory. Yet, on one day on the sets of ‘Atal Joler Ahoban’ , he just couldn’ t get the shot right. And everytime he got it wrong, he started scolding others around him,” Chatterjee recalled.

Chatterjee had understood that something was irritating the legendary actor. Risking everything, he had walked up to Biswas and told him to unbutton his coat and breathe easy while rehearsing. ” Imagine my audacity — I was asking an actor of his stature to do this! But he agreed to listen to me. Another day, he even acted out my scene and mouthed my dialogues to teach me how to get my act right,” he said.

On yet another occasion, Biswas had appeared a bit depressed on the sets. ” I asked him the reason, and he said he wanted to bid adieu to acting. I said he shouldn’ t think that way because there weren’t any crown princes around to take his place. He just looked at me and said: ‘ The crown prince is preparing for his coronation.’ ”

Biswas apart, the conversation also veered towards his assessment of Bikas Roy. Acknowledging his greatness as an actor, Chatterjee, however, mentioned Roy was at times trapped in mannerisms.

The session concluded with Chatterjee’ s rendition of ‘ Jhorer Din’ and ‘ Nimontron’ . As his baritone echoed in the room, the audience was left spellbound. Before leaving with the promise to return, Chatterjee left his stamp on canvas with the lines: ‘ Ki likhbo lekhar kichhu nai/ Sada kagoj bhoriye taate soi korlam tai’ .

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kolkata / by Priyanka DasGupta, TNN / August 20th, 2015

Hasina to fly down for Suvra funeral

Leaders

PranabMukherjeeKOLKATA20aug2015

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will arrive tomorrow morning for a seven-hour visit to attend the funeral of President Pranab Mukherjee’s wife Suvra, who passed away today.

Hasina will land at 8am and fly back at 3pm, after meetings with Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence. She will attend the last rites at 13 Talkatora Road, the official residence of Pranab’s son and Congress MP Abhijit.

Pranab had visited Bangladesh on his first foreign trip as President in 2013.

Suvra, 74, breathed her last at 10.51am in the intensive care unit of the Army Hospital-Research and Referral, where she was admitted on August 7 after complaining of breathlessness. She is survived by, apart from Pranab, sons Abhijit and Indrajit and daughter Sharmistha, who is a Congress spokesperson.

Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Modi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Najma Heptulla, junior minister Babul Supriyo and CPM MP Brinda Karat were among those who paid their respects.

Mamata Banerjee arrived from Calcutta with minister Subrata Mukherjee and MPs Abhishek Banerjee, Subhendu Adhikari, Dinesh Trivedi and Derek O’Brien to offer her condolences. When she reached Talkatora Road at 9.45pm, the road was cordoned off as the President was at his son’s residence. The Bengal chief minister left her car behind and walked to the house.

Mamata had cut short a Trinamul meeting at Nazrul Manch this evening to leave for Delhi.

“Today, we have lost someone very close to us, someone who was a part of our family, a part of our home. Suvra boudi has seen many of us grow up. I will forever be indebted to her for the love I have received from her,” Mamata said.

“I have known boudi for more than three decades. She was simple, loveable and a caring housewife,” she added.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta,India / Front Page> Nation> Story / by Our Bureau / Wednesday – August 19th, 2015

Diplomat seeks revival of French connection of Chandernagore

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

Kolkata :

Outgoing French Consul-General in Kolkata Fabrice Etienne, whose second innings in the city comes to an end this month, celebrates the cultural bond that links the city with Paris, but bemoans the fading French connection with Chandernagore.

Q. Your first posting was in this very city 20 monsoons ago. What was your first impression back then?

A. I was first impressed by the excessive sides of Calcutta — too many people, too many cars, too much noise, too much heat, too much rain. The old, and often decayed, colonial buildings of central Calcutta and what remained of the palaces of north Calcutta left its mark. I had the feeling I had been transported to a place rich with a thousand stories.

Q. Cut to 2015, how much has the city changed in your eyes?

When I first returned to Kolkata in 2004, I was pleasantly surprised — the streets were cleaner, some shopping malls had come up, some flyovers were built, some old buildings renovated and repainted that gave the city a more modern look. In 2012, this impression was confirmed and yet at the same time, I felt the very soul of Kolkata was still very much there, and the soul of Kolkata, is its people and the great culture they carry within them.

Q. Do you have any bitter memories during your stay here?

A. Road accidents that have struck my Bengali friends. Nothing really has been done to improve the road conditions in India—it is not only a Kolkata issue—and reduce the number of fatalities. This bothers me to no end, especially because the social and economic gains are directly related to a fluid traffic flow. It is true for environment protection. And of course, I do feel a little bitter about the lack of any concrete fruition of the projects earmarked in my tenure between France and Bengal.

Q. What has been your impression on the former French colonies of Chandernagare. Do you think the preservation work is satisfactory? If not, what are your suggestions?

A. As a Frenchman, I am of course much attached to the remnants of our past in this former trading outpost. The banks of the Hooghly are very nice and I feel something from the French “art de vivre” (art of living) each time I go there. I sadly do not see any serious preservation work done there, and it is even sadder when you think about the huge tourism potential of this area. Every 10 years or so, the government shows an intention to develop cultural tourism here by improving connectivity, renovating heritage building, promoting this unique destination. Nothing takes place afterwards. A few years ago, the French embassy commissioned an inventory of the French heritage building in Chandernagore to Indian architect Aishwarya Tipnis. Of the 100 building she listed, many have been destroyed. Tipnis, with the support of French NGO Vieilles Maisons Francaises is digitalizing the database.

Q. During a meeting with the CM, you expressed France’s interest in investing in Bengal. What’s the progress?

A. I cannot speak on behalf of the many French companies in India. It is true certain companies did not consider Bengal as the best possible place to invest in their fields. The ABG-LDA case in Haldia did not contribute towards sending the right signals back home. Fortunately, there are some success stories: The Accor group opened its first hotel, Novotel, a few months ago and plans to open other hotels in near future; Decathlon (sport equipment) will open stores here in the next few months.

Q. What in your opinion has been your greatest achievement as Consul-General?

As Consul General, that France is back in Kolkata and now active in a wide range of subjects of bilateral interests — culture thanks to Alliance Francaise du Bengale, students exchanges thanks to Campus France, tourism thanks to a very effective visa section that processes all applications for Indian tourists within 48 hours, science — and many others areas of mutual interests and cooperation building blocks laid down in the past few years.

Nothing really has been done to improve the road conditions in India… The same is true for environment protection. I do feel a little bitter about the lack of any concrete fruition of the projects earmarked during my tenure between France and Bengal

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kolkata / by Showmak Ghosal, TNN / August 20th, 2015

Dare to dream and dream big

Business & Economy, Leaders
Sanjiv Goenka, chairman of RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, speaks to youngsters at the Yi-India@75-CII Confab
Sanjiv Goenka, chairman of RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, speaks to youngsters at the Yi-India@75-CII Confab

Sanjiv Goenka, chairman of RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group and a former president of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), urged the youth to dare and dream big at an interactive session at Yi-India@75-CII Confab, The Importance of Youth Entrepreneurship in Shaping India’s Economy, in association with The Telegraph.

Edited excerpts from his speech.

Entrepreneurship

It is not the preserve of people who have capital. Today’s technology, today’s venture capital funding… just make sure if you have a good idea, if you are organised, you will get capital.

All you need to do is believe in yourself, believe in your idea, dare to dream and dream big, don’t dream small. And if you do that…. I think there’s no stopping you.

Entrepreneurship is about trying something interesting, innovative and succeeding in it. Whoever would have thought, 10 years ago, that Anjan Chatterjee (of Mainland China) would have a valuation of Rs 1,000 crore ….

Look at Anamika Khanna… today she does profits of Rs 50 crore…. Look at Sabyasachi Mukherjee, he does profits of Rs 50-60 crore…. But 10 years ago they didn’t have that much capital. So it’s possible.

The youth

I think the great difference between us and the next generation is impatience. You can call it speed. You can call it a very quick desire to succeed. There is a kind of confidence, which stems from knowledge that you all have, access to knowledge that you all have, which borders on arrogance. You have minds that challenge convention, that challenge routine. You are not scared of the unknown. You are not scared of an unpleasant answer. You have minds that dare to dream and that has the confidence to succeed.

When I interacted with students at IIT Kharagpur… when I interact with students at IMI (International Management Institute), I actually feel a sense of great pride, a sense of great optimism, because the minds are so sharp.

And I think we as elders have the responsibility to give you the freedom of operation, freedom to think, freedom to actually just go out and perform without being bound by convention, rules or regulation.

If you are scared of making wrong decisions, you will not land up making decisions. Out of 10, if you get 6 right, you’ve done very well. I mean 6:4… 6 right, 4 wrong is a fantastic ratio.

First day at CESC

When you are 27 you are somewhat stupid… not in this generation, but in our generation certainly. It was this whole thing of wanting to prove to myself that I can turn a city that is notorious for power cuts into a city that doesn’t have power cuts. I believed I could do it.

It took me longer than I thought… but I must tell you when I entered the CESC office the first day…. At the building’s entrance, the workers had built a funeral pyre. They had an effigy… they kept saying ‘Sanjiv Goenka murdabad’.

When I entered the office, they lit the funeral pyre. So that was my baptism…. It was horrific to say the least. I was viewed with suspicion. I was viewed as somebody who was a rich man’s son and therefore an upstart. I was greeted with hostility.

I must confess I got fazed; I didn’t let anyone realise it, excepting my wife…. The fact that today Calcutta is free of loadshedding gives me the greatest amount of satisfaction. And I think somewhere up there, my father must be pleased.

Renewable energy

When you look at solar or wind (energy), you are not dependent on anyone to supply you fuel. Today, coal is one of the most precious things and it’s an expensive thing and thereby it means that the power that you generate from coal will be expensive.

Technology is bringing down costs…. Give it another couple of years and costs will go down further. I think that’s the stage when solar and wind (energy) will take off in a big way….

The challenge there will be land…. With the new land acquisition bill, as it is proposed, it’s going to be difficult or almost impossible to get land; and if you don’t get land, solar (energy) will certainly become out of the question.

Music World was set up for a purpose and I can’t afford carrying on businesses that make losses. Nobody buys physical CDs, and cassettes and DVDs anymore…. It’s not what one can afford to do; it’s about what is sensible to be done.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta,India / Front Page> Calcutta> Story / by A Staff Reporter / Monday – August 17th, 2015

Bankim house heritage tagging begins

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

Kolkata :

Finally, the Mamata Banerjee government has initiated the process of bestowing heritage tag to the house where Vande Mataram creator Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay lived during his stints as deputy magistrate and deputy collector. The house is in ruins and desperately needs restoration. Even as Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC) has sanctioned Rs 5 crore for it, but work can’t be started unless the building is included in the heritage list.

Ten years ago, the house-owner, Pranab Mukherjee, sold the house to a developer. Just then, locals and an NGO, Howrah Citizen’s Forum, put up stiff resistance and stalled demolition of the property.

On Tuesday, at the behest of the chief minister, a Heritage Commission team visited the premises to start the tagging process. Basudeb Malik, OSD, heritage commission, told TOI, “Although the house doesn’t have much architectural significance, it is associated with a great man. It must be protected from falling apart, at any cost. We are looking for substantial records to prove that the creator of Anandamath had lived here.”

Chattopadhyay wrote the iconic novel became synonymous with the struggle for Independence and banned by the British. The song, Vande Mataram, originally a Sanskrit stotra personifying India as Mother Goddess, was first published in this novel. Bipin Chandra Pal named his patriotic journal after Vande Mataram in August 1906. Lala Lajpat Rai also published a journal of the same name. Chattopadhyay is also regarded as a proponent of Bengal’s literary renaissance for his versatile writing.

Efforts have been on to have Chattopadhyay’s stay in Howrah (between 1881 and 1886) officially recognized and commemorated. But confusion has been prevailing over his residences at 218 Panchnantala Road (about 2 km off Howrah Station) and 212 Panchanatala Road, in the same locality.

Pranab Mukherjee (63), who lives on the first floor of 218 Panchantala Road, that threatens to fall apart any day, said, “We had no idea that the building was associated with Bankim Chandra. If the state government wants to take it over, me and my brother and sister who co-own the house, should be compensated.” Chunks of concrete keep peeling off the house, forcing the other two Mukherjee siblings, Prodyut and Protima, to move out. In 1964, they had bought it from one Jaladhar Mitra, who, in turn, had bought it in 1936. Locals have turned the 17-cottah land in front of the house at 218 Panchanantala Road into a park and named after the litterateur. Mukherjee alleged, “The land was part of the same property, but the local club has encroached it.”

Howrah mayor Rathin Chakraborti said, “We have sanctioned Rs 5 crore for the restoration. Now we are waiting for the government to announce the heritage staus.”

Howrah Citizen’s Forum coordinator N Sarkar said, “During his first stint as an administrator in Howrah in 1881, Bankim Chandra would travel from Kolkata to his workplace. He later shifted to the rented house at 218 Panchanatala Road, and lived there during his second stint in Howrah in 1883. This tenure was his longest among the three.” For the third time, Bankim joined as first class deputy magistrate and deputy collector after being transferred from Bhadrak in Odisha on July 10, 1886. He travelled to Howrah every day but had not vacated the rented house at Panchanantala.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kolkata / by Ajanta Chakraborty & Rupak Banerjee, TNN / August 15th, 2015