Micro-finance institution Bandhan Financial Services, which got the final license from Reserve Bank of India to start universal banking, would formally start operations as a banker from August 23.
“We will start banking operations under Bandhan Bank from August 23 with the inauguration of 600 branches in 27 states across the country along with 250 on-site ATMs,” Bandhan chairman Chandra Sekhar Ghosh told PTI.
He said 247 branches would be opened in West Bengal, while Bihar, Orissa and Assam would also have a good share in terms of the number of branches.
Ghosh said 65 per cent of the branches would be rural, while the rest 35 per cent would be opened in urban areas.
The logo for Bandhan Bank has been designed by advertising agency O&M, Ghosh said adding that all the branches would be on core banking platform.
Bandhan is also in the process of obtaining separate RBI licenses for RTGS, NEFT, payments gateways and CTS, he said.
Ghosh said all the necessary hardware and software are in place to start the operations.
The MFI had got the in-principle license from RBI to start universal banking in April 2014 within 18 months time.
Along with Bandhan, IDFC had also got the same in-principle approval from RBI for starting universal banking operations.
With IFC, GIC Singapore and SIDBI as equity investors, Bandhan Bank would start operations with a capital base of Rs 2,616 crore.
source: http://www.dailypioneer.com / The Pioneer / Home> Banking & Finance / PTI / Kolkata – Sunday, June 05th, 2015
Kids with cancer (top) play at Premashraya in Rajarhat after it was inaugurated by Union minister Piyush Goyal, flanked by Tata Steel managing director TV Narendran and Tata Medical Center medical director Mammen Chandy, on Friday. Pictures by Amit Datta
A shelter for outstation cancer patients and their relatives visiting Tata Medical Center for treatment was inaugurated at New Town on Friday.
Premashraya, an 11-storeyed building less than a kilometre from the hospital in New Town Action Area III, can house 200 patients and 300 family members with separate wings for children and those needing palliative care.
“Relatives of cancer patients need to be with them. Poor patients can’t afford expensive hotels; but they need to stay in the vicinity of the hospital as they can’t travel for long,” Piyush Goyal, minister of state for power, coal and new and renewable energy, said after inaugurating the building.
Coal India Ltd has funded the Rs 41-crore project.
Goyal said his ministry would like to help out the hospital, run by the Tata group, with its annual operational expenses that have been calculated at around Rs 30 crore. He also urged the authorities to approach the people of Calcutta for funds.
“I would request Geeta Gopalakrishnan (director, donor relationships, Tata Medical Center, who raised funds for Premashraya) to approach every industrialist, businessman and Rotaries of Calcutta; connect with them and get a promise for Rs 30 crore. Then that’ll give them a satisfaction,” Goyal said.
Mammen Chandy, the medical director of Tata Medical Center, said many patients could not afford treatment for want of a place to stay. “Premashraya was planned when there was no money,” he said. “Then Coal India came forward. But maintaining and running it and keeping the place clean is a big challenge.” St. Jude’s Child Care Centre, a voluntary organisation, would look after the children’s wing.
The hospital authorities said they would hire agencies for housekeeping, cleaning and other daily jobs. Once the daily operational costs have been worked out, the charges for staying will be decided, an official said. The charges will be minimal though, he said.
“In some cases, cancer can’t be cured. But if we can’t cure cancer, we can allow a person to die with dignity. That is why we have two floors for palliative care,” Chandy said.
The third and fourth floors will house patients in need of palliative care. The hospital will counsel and train relatives of such patients in palliative care. The official said patients could return home after completion of the training.
Premashraya, spread over 100,000sq ft, has a library, prayer hall, cafeteria, physiotherapy centre, auditorium and a play area for children.
Four shops on the ground floor will sell vegetables, fruits, grocery and gift items. For every six-seven rooms, there’s a kitchen where family members of patients can cook.
The auditorium will be used for yoga classes, meditation and counselling. There will be vehicles to ferry passengers and their relatives from the building to the hospital. Vastu Shilpa Consultants has designed the building.
The hospital has expansion plans as well. A seven-storey building with 250 beds will come up on the same campus where the 183-bed hospital is now operating.
An official said Indian Oil Corporation had funded part of the Rs 200-crore project.
“It’ll have three radiotherapy machines. Currently, we have two machines and the average waiting time for a patient is two months despite both machines operating from 11am to midnight,” said V.R. Ramanan, the deputy director of the hospital. The target date for completing the building is 2017.
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta, India / Front Page> Calcutta> Story / by Special Correspondent / Saturday – July 04th, 2015
It was a proud moment for Heritage Institute of Technology Kolkata when the students of the Rotaract Club of Heritage Institute received the Best Club Award in the Rotaract District out of 30 clubs on June 28, 2015 in the district award ceremony.
Rotaract Club of Heritage Institute won 16 awardsfor the term 2014-2015. Since 2009 the club has maintained the record of winning the Best Club award and this time it was no different from the previous years. The list of awards received included, best club, best president, secretary, best in community service, best in spreading community literacy and of course the best social media presence.
“It was a great moment for Heritage Institute as the students worked hard in organizing various projects for social welfare,” said P.K. Agarwal, CEO, Heritage Group of Institutions Kolkata. Both in Heritage School and its specialized higher education institutes, a great deal of stress is laid on social service. Children are taught to share their good fortunes with the underprivileged and spend time with them so that they realize that it is their responsibility to take up the cause of the less fortunate.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / by Jhimli Mukherjee Pandey, TNN / July 03rd, 2015
RIP Thomas Nelson Annandale, at the Scottish Cemetery.
Not many people know that the first director-general of Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Thomas Nelson Annandale was buried at the Scottish Cemetery when he breathed his last on April, 1924. Or who he actually was. When ZSI kick-starts its centenary celebrations on Wednesday (the organization was founded on 1 July 2016), a plaque will be erected to pay homage to its Scottish founder at recently-discovered tomb.
Tracing the grave was far from easy for the premier institution on animal taxonomy that is adept at identifying species around the country. According to some records at ZSI, Annandale was buried inside the South Park Street cemetery. It took ZSI a while to fish out documents to prove that his remains had been shifted to the Scottish Cemetery where he has since been left to rest.
ZSI director Krishnamoorthy Venkataraman told TOI on Monday: “Now that we have found the grave, a plaque will be erected to honour Annandale’s contribution to ZSI and science at large.” Dhriti Banerjee, deputy director and head of office, ZSI, said, “It took us some time to find out that the ZSI founder was buried at the Scottish Cemetery and not at the Park Street Cemetery. But when we initiated the mission, we realized that the inscriptions were barely visible. We had a difficult time finding out Annandale’s tombstone.”
Most of the tombstones at the cemetery lie broken, defaced and forgotten. Weeds have obscured the gorgeous carvings. Annandale’s tombstone was unclean and the lead filling on the inscription had corroded. Established in 1820, the six-acre Scottish Cemetery was in use till 1940. Currently, it has around 4,300 graves. Apart from Scots, a few Bengalis who were converted to Christianity by Scottish priests were buried there.
After discovering the grave, ZSI officials had the tombstone spruced up and the inscription re-painted. On the occasion of ZSI’s centenary, new slabs will be installed on the grave and landscaping done around it.
An array of programmes have been planned to mark ZSI centenary. The authorities are organizing a run on July 1 to kick-start its centenary celebrations. The Centenary Run will begin from the Asiatic Society in Park Street, the place of ZSI’s origin, and end at Prani Vigyan Bhawan, the present headquarters in New Alipore.
Venkataraman said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in the centenary celebrations in the third week of July at the ZSI headquarters and dedicate the “Digital ZSI” – the e-access to ZSI’s documents – to the country on 100 years of faunal inventory of India.
Going back to the organisation’s first founder, the director said: “We have learnt from a publication published by ZSI that the first director-general travelled across the country and also to China, Japan, Malaya and Morocco looking for different species of fauna in the beginning of 20th century.” The publication had described Annandale as a person of “slight physique, with high strung temperament and restless energy.” He was born in Edinburgh in June 1876 and died in Kolkata on April 10, 1924. During his short life of 48 years, Annandale had 528 scientific reports published.
Venkataraman said conducting authentic research on the country’s rich faunal diversity, undertaking studies on alien fauna, collecting samples of the country’s zoological wealth and setting up zoological museums in different parts of the country are some of the objectives of ZSI.
Annandale had founded the ZSI, which later started functioned under the ministry of environment, forests and climate change, to promote survey, exploration, research and documentation on animal taxonomy. It has identified more than 96,000 species of animals.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / TNN / by Ajanta Chakraborty / June 30th, 2015
A purohit offers flowers to the deity at the Dharmaraj temple in Shibpur. Pictures by Gopal Senapati
A nondescript house that stands dark and invisible behind the cramped row of flower and fruit stalls at Shibpur Dharmatala More houses the Dharmaraj temple. It is hard to imagine that a temple exists in the milieu of a marketplace. An old wooden door leads to the tiny temple inside where a black stone relief sculpture is the presiding deity, known as Dharmaraj to the common people of Shibpur. According to Howrah Itihas- Aitijhya, written by local historian Sibendu Manna, this sculpture is a figure of Vishnu, standing on a blooming lotus flower. Next to the Dharmaraj idol are other smaller black stone idols of Kali, Jarasur and Vishnu.
The inconspicuous temple at Shibpur Dharmatala
Shibpur’s Dharmatala gets its name from this Dharmaraj temple which is estimated to be more than 300 years old. Although there is little historical information available about the temple, it is said that the temple was built by one of the members of the Roychowdhury family, the zamindars of Shibpur. “We have seen this temple since childhood and always knew that our forefathers had built it. The first settler of our family, Rambrahma Roychowdhury, had come here in 1683. His son Sukdeb Roychowdhury came to power in 1707. We assume that the temple must have been built during his tenure,” said Samir Roychowdhury, a member of the family.
Dharmaraj is a form of Yama. The god of death is usually worshipped by members of lower caste Hindus. Inside the temple, one can find a number of earthen horses placed near the deity. Mothers who have ailing children or those whose infants cannot walk properly, usually pledge these horses to the deity.
Buddha Purnima is an auspicious day at the Shibpur temple. Special puja is offered to the god on this day and devotees come in droves to offer prayers at the temple. “We have been sevaits at the temple for several generations. This temple is revered by most people in Shibpur area. On Buddha Purnima, we have a special puja and many people come to offer puja to the deity,” said Madhusudhan Bhattacharya, the priest at the Dharmaraj temple.
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta, India / Front Page> Howrah> Story / Friday – July 03rd, 2015
For Doctors Day on Wednesday, Medica Hospital, in association with Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Indian Medical Association, Bengal branch, launched Tele-ICU facilities. Designed by Philips India Ltd, the technology is a specialist-led ICU care to be monitored from a command centre.
Kolkata’s branch will serve as the command center, which will be connected to other Medica Hospital branches.
“Our specialists sometimes have to fly to other centers to monitor critical cases. This Tele-ICU facility will enable them to monitor patients from Kolkata itself,” said Dr Alok Roy, chairman of Medica Hospital.
“The command center will get all the data about the patient online. These are real time data. The experts in the command center can monitor and intervene whenever the need arises,” said Dr Arindam Kar, director of Medica Institute of Critical Care.
“I am sure this Tele-ICU service is going to help patients. We are also trying to upgrade technology-aided services in government hospitals,” said health minister Chandrima Bhattacharya. The hospital also organized a quiz contest on Wednesday.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / TNN / July 02nd, 2015
Scientists at the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) have discovered 176 new animal species in the run-up to their centenary year that kicked off on Wednesday.
Speaking to TOI, ZSI director K Venkataraman said 93 new species of insects were recorded by the team last year along with 24 species of amphibians, 23 species of fish and two species of reptiles. The other new finds were 12 species each of arachnida and crustacea, one type each of nematoda, trematoda and mollusca.
“It has been an exciting year with our scientists contributing to the inventory of animal species on the planet. Apart from the new finds, 61 species of animals that were found elsewhere in the world were also found and recorded in the country,” Venkataraman said.
Of the new insects discovered, several were found in Bengal. Agricnemis kalinga was found in Panchala, Howrah; Amemboa bifucrata in Kalikhola, Jalpaiguri; Amemboa mahananda in Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary, Darjeeling; Onchotrechus dooarsicus in Buxa Tiger Reserve, Jalpaiguri; Pleciobates bengalensis in Alipurduar; Calvia explanata in Darjeeling and Forcipomyia parasecuris in Burdwan. In addition, several other species were found across the state.
ZSI deputy director Dhriti Banerjee said Bengal has one of the richest faunal diversities in the country due to its diverse climatic zones. “Of 96,000-odd recorded animal species in India, 11,042 species, or more than 10%, are found in the state. Different climate zones — alpine temperate forest in Darjeeling, tropical forest in north Bengal, desiduous forest in south Bengal, dry grassland in the middle and mangroves in Sunderbans — support the varied animal life,” she said.
In fact, north Bengal, particularly Darjeeling, is considered a animal diversity hotspot by zoologists as the Eastern Himalayas is the gateway for faunal elements coming to India. “Any experienced scientist can confidently set out on a trip to Darjeeling and find a new species. The insect and ambhibian population in Darjeeling is very high,” Banerjee said.
While new species are being discovered in the state, several species have become extinct, including Javan rhinoceros, Asiatic two-horned rhinoceros, musk deer, monal pheasant, mombin quail, pink headed duck, marbled cat, golden cat, three-banded palm civet, mock viper and gore’s bronze back viper.
While ZSI has traditionally focused on surveys, collection of specimens, identification, naming and preserving, it has now started working on a GIS platform so they can be spacially and temporally mapped for reference. An ambitious programme to digitize the specimens is underway.
“A databank of high resolution photographs of type specimens, along with their full profile — what it looks like, where it was discovered, where it is found now and its DNA bar code — will be created,” Banerjee said.
Banerjee is heading the Rs 3 crore project to digitize information on 7,286 species, most of which are 100-200 years old.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / TNN / July 02nd, 2015
The district Magistrate of Nadia along with chief of Nadia Zilla Parishad in West Bengal was on Saturday presented the United Nations Public Services Award 2015 for eliminating open defecation in the district.
Nadia district, located in south Bengal, had half of its population defecating in open till October 2013. The district administration, under a programme called Sabar Souchagar, built 3.56 lakh toilets in the district. As a result, the number of people continuing with the practice dropped to mere 0.2 per cent.
The award was presented by the acting Secretary-General of the U.N., Lenni Montiel, along with Head U.N. Women Stefani Senese, on conclusion of the U.N. Day celebrations 2015, on June 26 at Medellin in Colombia, District Magistrate P.B. Salim informed The Hindu over email.
Banikumar Roy, chief, Nadia ZP, was also present.
‘Unique model’
The U.N. has described Sabar Shouchagar (Toilets for All) as a “unique model developed to generate awareness, improve access to sanitary toilets, and bring substantial health improvement through improved sanitation.”
The U.N. added that the scheme has mobilised all stakeholders, “especially women and schoolchildren and saw involvement of faith-based organisations” and “if replicated, it has the potential to eliminate open defecation from across the world.”
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had on April 30 held a programme in Nadia district highlighting the success of the scheme and announced that ‘Nirmal Bangla Divas’ will be observed across the State every year.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National / by Special Correspondent / Kolkata – June 28th, 2015
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee hug each other at the flag-off ceremony of bus services between Bangladesh and India, in Dhaka on Saturday. (PTI Photo)
Dhaka :
The most talked about star of the show in Dhaka on Saturday was undoubtedly West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. Not only did she preside over the historic exchange of instruments of ratification of the land boundary agreement (LBA), but also joined the two prime ministers to flag off buses from Dhaka to Agartala and another to Shillong.
Mamata’s flight to Dhaka from Kolkata Friday night was declared a “VIP” flight — and Dhaka airspace cleared for her.
When she landed, the first call was from Sheikh Hasina who requested her to stay behind for the state banquet for Modi on Saturday night. Mamata was returning to Kolkata after the official appointments. Mamata now will be part of the Indian delegation.
While Manmohan Singh brought with him a number of chief ministers from northeastern states, Mamata’s absence was striking. This time, Modi has given Mamata star billing by not including any other chief minister in his delegation, a piece of impressive political timing.
Mamata is not staying in the same hotel as Modi, but at a Radisson hotel 10 km from Sonargaon, the PM’s hotel.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina during delegation level talks in Dhaka on Saturday. (PTI Photo)
Mamata is crucial for both the LBA and Teesta pacts to see the light of day. Modi has taken a leaf out of former PM I K Gujral’s book because the Ganga waters treaty, signed between India and a previous Hasina government was done with West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu at the helm. Modi is putting his cooperative federalism concept to work here.
Mamata cannot back the Teesta agreement until she shows a plan for north Bengal in place. She also cannot do it until the state elections in 2016. Until then, though, she and Modi are playing a very complex political tango where both have high stakes — Modi needs support in Rajya Sabha for his legislations and Mamata needs financial assistance and a leg up as she tries to regain the “bhadralok” vote in Bengal by delivering on investment, industry and infrastructure before the elections.
Mamata had been a guest of Hasina’s at the Februray 21 Language Day celebrations here where she had publicly stated that she would push both pacts. Hasina who has had an on-again-off-again relationship with Mamata, has decided to take her at her word, because the ultimate guarantor is Modi.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> India /by Indrani Bagchi, TNN / June 07th, 2015
Jhulan Goswami in the nets. — Photo: K. Murali Kumar / The Hindu
The lanky all-rounder lifted India to 142 from a dismal 87/8, while the White Ferns’ chase gave out at 125.
Indian eves recovered brilliantly to snatch a well-deserved 17-run win over visiting New Zealand in the first of their five-match One-Day International (ODI) series here on Sunday and picked up two crucial points in their bid to qualify for the 2017 Women’s World Cup.
The Indians found their heroine in the six-footer Jhulan Goswami whose 67-ball 57 (6×4, 1×6) lifted the hosts to 142 all-out after being 87 for eight at one stage. In reply, the White Ferns faltered under pressure and were dismissed for 125.
Opting to bat first after winning the toss, the Indians had struggled against some accurate bowling and lost wickets at regular intervals before former captain Goswami blasted a timely half-century that virtually took the game away from the White Ferns, for whom pacer Lea Tahuhu, off-spinner Leigh Kasperek and left-arm spinner Morna Nielsen took three wickets apiece.
The White Fern innings never really took off and the early wickets took the momentum off their chase. Despite some resolute batting by opener and skipper Suzie Bates (28), Sophie Devine (24) and Kasperek (21), the visitors could not stop the marauding Indian bowlers who were well supported through smart catching and agile fielding.
For the hosts, off-spinner Sneh Rana came away with three wickets, while left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht, who opened the bowling, and seamer Harmanpreet Kaur took two apiece to complete a fine win.
The teams meet again at the same venue on Wednesday. The first three matches of the series count towards qualification to the 2017 World Cup.
Brief scores:
India 142 all out in 44.3 overs (Jhulan Goswami 57, Lea Thuhu 3 for 25; Morna Nielsen 3 for 24) beat New Zealand 125 all out in 45.3 overs (Suzie Bates 28, Sophie Devine 24; Sneh Rana 3 for 26, Ekta Bisht 2 for 18, Harmanpreet Kaur 2 for 16) by 17 runs.
Points: India 2, New Zealand 0.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sport> Cricket / IANS / Bengaluru – June 28th, 2015
