History made at Purulia Sainik School on I-Day

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Records, All

Kolkata :

Since early morning on Friday, there was an air of urgency in the proceedings at Sainik School, Purulia. It was Independence Day and the occasion is celebrated with much pomp and gaiety at the institution which turned 50 recently. This year was going to be different though. History was about to be created with the honour guard of senior cadets preparing to salute the first headmistress of the school. This was also the first time in the school’s history that the National flag would be unfurled by a lady Army officer. A second-generation Army officer, Lt Col Palli Swarna Lata is now the headmistress and officiating principal of the school. The Lt Col joined the Army as a short service commission officer but was granted permanent commission later on.

“Both Republic Day and Independence Day are celebrated with much patriotic fervour at this school,” said Lt Col Lata, after taking the salute and unfurling the flag. The school has a checkered history. Among its alumnus is Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, the present Indian Air Force chief. Several others who have passed out from the Sainik School in Purulia have served the Army, Navy and Air Force as officers. Many of them have served in other fields including the central paramilitary forces and the private sector. Many alumni of the school have been decorated with gallantry awards. One of them is Col (retd) Subir Mookherjee who received the Shaurya Chakra for gallantry in 1980. On Friday, some former students of the school celebrated Independence Day with Mookherjee at his Salt Lake residence in Kolkata, with a view to draw inspiration from the brave soldier.

“Several former students from the batches between 1992 and 2012 went to Col (retd) Mookherjee’s residence on Independence Day. Alumni from all over India and abroad also called him up to thank him for his service to the nation,” said Shreyas Kumar, an alumnus based abroad who is also the vice-president, Sainik School Purulia Student Welfare and Inspiration Foundation Trust (SSP SWIFT). The organization has launched nine scholarships, one of which was recently won by a girl student Sagnika Chakraborty. One of the scholarships is dedicated to late Flying Officer Rafi Ahmad of the IAF. On Friday, these scholarships were distributed among deserving students by Lt Col Lata.

“This year, two cadets from Sainik School, Purulia, have joined the NDA and INA. Preparations are on to train more cadets for the next semester,” Lt Col Lata said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / by Jayanta Gupta / August 17th, 2014

Gobbling up key links to history

Amazing Feats, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Records, All

Hubli :

Deep within the suburbs of Unkal in the city lies a key relic of our rich architectural history — the Chandramouleshwar temple — forgotten by many and being usurped by the unscrupulous. The temple, which dates back to reign of the Badami Chalukyas in the 11-12th century, has been crying for attention for years now, but no concrete measures have been taken to protect the historical monument despite the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) designating it as a protected monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act,1958.

Over the years, the land on which it stands has also been allegedly encroached upon by villagers.

Unkal was a border area between the Hoysala and Chalukya empires. The Chandramouleshwar temple, therefore, bears resemblance to both Hoysala and Chalukya styles of architecture. Its unique plus-shaped plinth sets it apart from other temples in the state, claim experts.

A facade of promises

The temple has about 4-5 acres of land around it, but most of it has allegedly been encroached upon by villagers. ASI had woken up to such encroachments five to six decades ago, had conducted a survey and planned a renovation of the temple. But, it then placed all plans on the back burner.

C B Marigoudra, a retired teacher and historian, recalls that the temple was declared a historical monument by ASI around 50 years ago. “But, no steps for development have been completed to date.”

Around five years ago, ASI again took a shot at reining in encroachments by constructing a wall around the site. But work on redevelopment came to a grinding halt a few years ago, alleges Marigoudra.

P S Parvati, a retired officer of information and broadcasting department, says the district administration had sent a proposal to the state government around two years on developing the temple, improving road connectivity to it and providing other facilities to visitors. That file has been gathering dust. “Citizens are forgetting the importance of the temple. Many people don’t known that such a historical monument is located right in our city. There is a need to renovate the temple and create awareness about its importance among the people,” suggests Parvati.

M S Koravi, a former corporator, says ASI had served notices to residents who had encroached upon the land a few years ago. But that zest fizzled out soon. “No action was taken by the department against the encroachers. If ASI wants to clear the encroachments, it should provide alternative rehabilitation to the residents. Only then should it develop the city’s only historical temple,” recommends Koravi.

J Ranganath, assistant superintending archaeologist engineer, ASI, Dharwad division, points at half-hearted measures taken: construction of a compound wall and a watchman to keep an eye on the temple. “The ASI division will soon get funds, with which we will take up renovation in two to three months. There is a technical problem with removing encroachments and that will looked into as well,” he claims.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Hubli / TNN / August 07th, 2014

AIR Kolkata bags award

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All

Kolkata :

All India Radio, Kolkata has been awarded as the most ‘effective’ regional news unit in India.

This decision was recently conveyed to the regional head of the Kolkata AIR unit by News Services Division, a unit of AIR in Delhi. AIR Guwahati has also been given the award along with its Kolkata counterpart. According to a AIR Kolkata spokesperson, the award was prestigious for the city regional unit as Kolkata unit of AIR has bagged such an award among 44 regional news unit in past five decades.

The award was given to the AIR Kolkata for broadcasting as many as 13 news bulletins everyday in regional language. Of these, 13 bulletins, 12 are in Bengali language and one in Santhali. This Santhali news has been popular not only with areas such as Bankura, Purulia, Mindapore or other Santhali dominated areas in West Bengal, but in large areas of Odisha, Bihar and Jharkhand. The spokesperson said that AIR Kolkata henceforth will be more careful to choose issues in airing news or news related programmes to cater the needs of the millions of listeners based in West Bengal and its neighbouring states. “The award has given us a sense of confidence and also a sense of responsibility to reach to more listeners,” the AIR (Kolkata) spokesperson said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / Saikat Ray, TNN / August 16th, 2014

Daughter relives Suchitra Mitra legacy

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Kolkata :

Three and a half years after legendary Rabindrasangeet exponent Suchitra Mitra passed away, her daughter Sudeshna Chatterjee has come forward to bring her legacy alive. Sudeshna has brought together the oldest students of Rabitirtha – the Rabindrasangeet institute started by Suchitra Mitra – to form Rabitirtha Praktoni. The fledgling organization promises to surprise the city with its mammoth Suchitra Smarane – a three-day celebration of Tagore songs and discussions at the ICCR in September on the occasion of Mitra’s 90th birth anniversary.

This is a breakaway from the mother institute that still exists off Lake Market. Towards the last couple of years of Mitra’s life, former minister Subhas Chakraborty and wife Romola took over the reins of Rabitirtha. After Mitra’s death, the media had been rife with reports of how its management changed overnight under Chakraborty’s aegis and how classes became irregular. Mitra’s students complained that teachers, whom she had handpicked, were thrown out of the institute. Interestingly, apart from Rabitirtha, Mitra’s house was also taken over by Romola Chakraborty’s NGO, Pather Panchali, and it was announced that a museum on Mitra would be developed. However, that is yet to come up.

Sudeshna, whom Mitra lovingly called Chiku, has relocated from the US to bring this project alive. Instead of the old world school where the original version is housed, Rabitirtha Praktani is holding its classes inside a state-of-the-art studio for performing arts owned by her. “The classes are being taken by some of my mother’s famous students like Purba Dam, Sumitra Roy and Agnibha Bandyopadhyay. We are bringing back that old tradition at Rabitirtha Praktani,” Sudheshna said.

You will find Sabitri Dutta in her late 70s, Tapati and Bharati Mukherjee, in their 60s, who had been trained by Mitra, happily coming to the class like old times. “We were heartbroken at the old school because training was intermittent and the likes of Kashinath Das, one of Suchitra-di’s handpicked teachers, were asked to leave,” said an old student.

The three-day festival at ICCR is being supported by JU’s School of Cultural Texts and Records that is providing rare photographs of Mitra for an exclusive exhibition and the Rabindra Bharati University.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / by Jhimli Mukherjee Pandey, TNN / August 14th, 2014

US diplomat to meet Mamata

Business & Economy, World Opinion

USDiplomatKOLKATA15aug2014

US charge d’affaires ambassador Kathleen Stephens (centre) spent an hour on Wednesday at CINI, the Child In Need Institute’s short-stay home on Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road.

She discussed child and maternal health care with CINI officials before interacting with children at the home. The kids, aged between six and 14, greeted her with a garland and danced to the song Dhaaker taaley from the film Poran Jai Jolia Re. Stephens handed each child a little brooch with the Indian flag on it.

In the afternoon, Stephens visited Presidency University and met vice-chancellor Anuradha Lohia. Stephens interacted with teachers and students on a host of issues, including exchange of teachers and students and research collaboration between Presidency and US universities. She spent close to an hour browsing through the galleries and artefacts at Victoria Memorial. Picture by Pradip Sanyal

Calcutta :

US charge d’affaires ambassador Kathleen Stephens is scheduled to meet chief minister Mamata Banerjee at 4pm tomorrow at Nabanna, sources in the state secretariat said this evening.

A charge d’affaires is a diplomatic secretary or a counsellor or a minister who heads a mission in the absence of its titular head.

“I am here to take Indo-US relations to a new level,” said Stephens, who took charge in early July.

If the meeting is held according to schedule, it will be Mamata’s first such session with a visiting foreign diplomat since she met Nancy Powell, the then US ambassador, in May 2013.

Powell, who had tried to “change the chief minister’s mind on FDI in retail” during that meeting, did not get an audience with Mamata during her next visit to Calcutta in February this year.

Sources in the US consulate had described Powell’s failure to meet Mamata as a “disappointment”. The then US ambassador to India had met then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi before her Calcutta visit.

Asked about her chances of meeting the chief minister, Stephens, who interacted with a select group of journalists this evening, said: “I have a good schedule tomorrow.”

The fact that Stephens and other officials of the US consulate were guarded about the prospect of the meeting was an indication that they did not want to make any announcements before the session.

“One cannot rule out the possibility of the meeting being cancelled at the last minute,” a Nabanna source said.

Unlike her predecessor Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who used to meet visiting diplomats or delegate the responsibility to senior ministers, Mamata has not shown much eagerness in engaging with foreign envoys.

The Nabanna sources said they received requests from visiting diplomats, seeking appointments with Mamata. But on most occasions, they do not get an audience with the chief minister or any of her senior colleagues, the sources said.

The approach has, however, been different in case of engagements with the US. Then secretary of state Hillary Clinton had come to Calcutta in May 2012 to meet the chief minister.

Although the Hillary-Mamata meeting had gone off well, there was a controversy later over whether they had discussed FDI in retail.

“A statement released by the US consulate had said the issue had been touched upon. But the way the state government reacted, with finance minister Amit Mitra calling up the US consul-general, did not go down well with the American establishment,” said a source close to the consulate.

Although Mamata had met Powell after that, the vibes were “not as warm as before”, the source said.

If Mamata finally meets Stephens, it will send a positive message to the US establishment.

“The chances of a meeting seem brighter this time as the chief minister is unlikely to miss the opportunity to tell the visiting diplomat that she is leaving for Singapore later this week to scout for investment,” a source said.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta / Front Page> Bengal > Story / by Our Correspondent / Thursday – August 14th, 2014

Strict teacher and a Small Wonder fan

Education, Records, All

FatherBorisKOLKATA15aug2014

Few students of Father Boris D’ Santos would have got away without a caning or two and yet the loudest applause was for him at the last reunion of St. Xavier’s old boys in December 2013.

Father Boris, the long-serving former vice-principal of St. Xavier’s Collegiate School, Calcutta, passed away on Wednesday. He was 80.

He had been suffering from bone cancer for some time, the school said. “Fr. D’ Santos had been ailing for some time. He received the best treatment that medical science could offer…. The doctors who attended included some of his former students,” said a statement issued by the school. Along with other Jesuits, his sister and her husband were present in his last moments.

Born on April 19, 1934, Father Boris was himself a student of St. Xavier’s school. A few years ago, when he was asked about his association with the school that was celebrating 150 years, Father Boris’s eyes had glistened as he related a story: “My brother and I were almost turned away from St. Xavier’s school on the day of admission in 1943 for turning up late. But fortunately, a lady teacher of the school happened to enter the prefect’s room and recognised my mother. They were friends. She said she could find a seat each for us and so I joined Standard I Section B on February 1, 1943.”

His classmate of the 1951 Senior Cambridge batch, General Shankar Roy Chowdhury, remembered young Boris as being good in both studies and games and “second-to-none in sprints”.

It was while he was working at CESC (then Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation) that Father Boris found his vocation to be a Jesuit. He joined the Society of Jesus (The Jesuits) on September 14, 1965, and was ordained as a priest in 1974. The much-loved Jesuit was appointed prefect of St. Xavier’s school in 1984, a post he held till he gave it up a few months ago because of failing health.

The social media was flooded with messages saluting the master who juggled various roles, as English teacher, prefect, disciplinarian, counsellor, pastor and mentor. “Rest in Peace, Father. Thank you for everything that you inculcated in us. Will never forget you,” wrote Arpanarghya Saha.

“He shaped our young minds with his animated lectures. He cared more about us learning the language correctly than merely completing the syllabus,” said Ranjoy Chowdhury, 25, of the Class of 2005.

What endeared Father Boris to students was largeness of heart and a sense of humour. Dhruv Mookerji, theatre actor and a former student, remembered the last time he was pulled up by Father Boris. “It was in 1995. I was to give a speech at a school event. When he heard it the day before, he took me aside and angrily asked me to make it shorter. I pleaded it was less than one-and-a-half pages long. But he waved his finger and warned me that the event must be wrapped up before 4.30pm so that he could watch Small Wonder (the science fiction sitcom featuring Vicki the robot girl)!”

Former students recalled the complex signature that no one dared imitate.

The school described his death as the end of an era and iterated its belief that staff and students, their parents, and the old boys’ association would uphold the values and principles he held dear.

The funeral mass for Father Boris will be held at the St. Xavier’s chapel at 10am on Thursday, followed by internment at Dhyan Ashram, Joka.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta / Front Page> Calcutta> Story / Thursday – August 14th, 2014

Game-o-Thon off to a flying start

Sports

Kolkata :

Rohit Sarkar toggles between virtual football and the real thing, and gets a kick out of both. “I play for my college team,” said the 22-year-old, adding: “I’m good with the ‘FIFA’ games too,” he added.

‘FIFA’ is a popular video games series, and the youngster is hoping to score in ‘FIFA ’11’ or ‘FIFA ’14’, the two versions of the simulated football games that feature in Game-o-Thon, the two-day PC gaming tournament that began on Friday. Rohit had just won the first round in the ‘Counter Strike’, a team game of shootouts between cops and terrorists. “We’ve came together as a team just two days ago,” he smiled, pointing to his four teammates in a cramped basement full of terminals.

Though they were expecting a high turnout for the two-day tournament, which is only in its second year, the rush had caught the organisers by surprise in the morning. “We have had to stop registration and told many to come tomorrow,” said Umang Lalani, whose idea it was to start a gaming meet in eastern India that could match those in cities like Delhi and Mumbai. “Over 900 could register today and we think we’ll be able to accommodate a total of 1200 for the two days of the meet. It’s way above the 500-odd we had last season. We definitely have to move to a much bigger place from next year,” smiled the 35-year-old.

The early face-offs were shortened to save time. “I’ve left out a very popular team game called ‘Call of Duty’ to ensure lesser stations are occupied and more participants are accommodated.

Among the participants were eight-year-old Asmita Banerjee, who lost her ‘FIFA ’11’ face-off with an older opponent but was all excited with the experience. Also fighting it out with an older opponent was Adarsh Shah, but the 11-year-old created quite a flutter when he did a Yuvraj Singh by ‘hitting’ every ball in the one-over-per-side match for a six. The 36 was easily the best score of the day in ‘Cricket 07’. “I am gaming for two years now but this was my first tournament,” Adarsh informed.

As the ‘amateurs’, most of them carrying personal kit, had fingers working overtime on keyboards or joysticks, one ‘pro’, national champion Santanu Basu, smiled at the enthusiasm. Prathamesh Patil, a technical marketing man rushed to the venue by a major gaming hardware manufacturer, was around to spell out the difference in figures.

“Headphones, mice, keyboards, mouse pads and, for some, joysticks, make up a kit and the options are huge. Someone who has just begun may be using a keyboard that costs Rs 2,500 while for a professional it may go up to 9,000,” he said between technical sessions with gamers. “It’s similar for the other gadgets.”

On a rain-drenched day, many said they hoped to be a pro some day.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / TNN / August 09th, 2014

45 years on, an inspiration returns to her inspiration – The fairy godmother, The La Martiniere girl

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Inspiration / Positive News and Features

Shabnam Ramaswamy, who started life afresh from the streets to become the force behind Jagriti Public School and Stree Shakti women’s co-operative in Katna village of Murshidabad, returned to her alma mater, La Martiniere for Girls, on Friday morning for the first time in 45 years.

The 60-year-old fairy godmother to hundreds of women and children took a walk down her La Martiniere memory lane…

ShabnamKOLKATA11aug2014

Whenever I’d go over the AJC Bose flyover I’d point at my school and show my driver or some staff member travelling with me in the car: “See, that’s my school!” After I went out of school in 1969 and all these years of struggle, I had never set foot in my school.

As I was addressing students of the school, I was thinking I would have loved my father to be alive today. In those days, picking me from a village, bringing me to the city and admitting me to this school, what a chance it was for me.

I went through all the stereotypes of marriage and conventions but it was the school that really made me what I am in terms of my lateral thinking, turning of views, never to give up against all odds. These are things in the books you read but the teachers put it across in a manner that really changed the way I think.

Shabnam2KOLKATA11aug2014

One book that I loved reading during my school days was Tom Sawyer. He was such a big influence on me. Him painting the wall, the mundane routine of doing that job when everyone else was having fun. At 22 (Shabnam was married off at 16) when I’d see other girls around me having fun and I would think, like Tom I’m going to make everybody come and paint my wall too while I sit on the stool with all my treasures. And today it seems like it’s really happened!

Look at the background I came from. My mother was illiterate, so was my grandmother. My father was in the army. So it was really the school that taught me how to handle life and the education gave me the ability to juxtapose both worlds, not to hate that or look down on it but do something about it. In fact, today I’ll be visiting one such teacher’s house who has baked a cake and waiting for me. I’m just looking forward to meeting her after all these years.

College I did because I desperately needed the graduate degree but it’s the school that made me. Looking at the school after all these years, no matter how much the buildings have changed and new ones have come up, these pillars will remain. The pillars are like pillars of strength for me. Today, with pride I can say that I come from here.

Shabnam3KOLKATA11aug2014

My favourite corner was always the field because I loved sports. I used to throw javelin, discus and do high jumps, long jumps. I used to participate in inter-school sporting events. I wasn’t a hugely academic person.

When I was starting Jagriti (Shabnam’s CBSE-affiliated English-medium co-educational public school for the poor) my reference point was this school. The discipline, the curriculum and the philosophy is modelled on all that I learnt from my own school — La Martiniere.

As told to Mohua Das

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta / Front Page> Calcutta> Story / by Mohua Das / Saturday – August 098th, 2014

Jogen is the President’s guest

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Kolkata :

He says he knows Rashtrapati Bhavan like the back of his hand, having spent 15 years there as curator. This time, painter Jogen Choudhury will spend 10 days there as President Pranab Mukherjee’s guest, ‘sketching, painting and working without a specific plan’.

Invited by the President under a new scheme “Artists in Residence”, the Rajya Sabha MP is the first of authors and artists who are set to follow him to Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Choudhury has been put up at the sprawling guest house inside the Presidential address. And he could soon be making a portrait of the President, said the artist. “I have no definite plan but I do intend to create a portrait of the President, provided we can fit enough sittings into his busy schedule,” said Choudhury, who also attended a Parliament session on Tuesday.

But first he needs to get acclimatized to the environment, he said. “You tend to feel a little lost in this huge place although Rashtrapati Bhavan is familiar territory since I spent a considerable amount of time here between 1972 and 1987 as curator.”

He will search for additions and alterations that have come about in the last 25 years. And he could start off with a set of sketches. “It seems likely that I will be doing a few sketches initially. It’s an honour to be the President’s guest and I hope to use the opportunity to come up with something different,” he said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / TNN / August 06th, 2014

IIT-Kharagpur working on national digital library

Education, Science & Technology

Seeking to create a national online educational asset for students interested in research and innovation, the IIT Kharagpur, recently put forth a proposal to form a NDL to the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

Seeking to create a national online educational asset for students interested in research and innovation, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, recently put forth a proposal to form a National Digital Library (NDL) to the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

The MHRD not only approved of the project, but also granted Rs. 100 crore for the project to be kick-started by the IIT Kharagpur, one of the premier tech institutes in the country. This was announced by institute’s director Partha Pratim Chakrabari at the 60th convocation ceremony in July-end.

Talking to The Hindu over phone, one of the core team members who ideated the NDL Partha Pratim Das said the project’s main aim was to create a knowledge base for students of all ages, especially for those interested in research.

“Every university has its own digital archive of its intellectual output and syllabus, known as the Institutional Digital Repository (IDR), whose access is limited to the university’s own staff and students. The NDL is modelled on the IDR, but will consist of IDRs of several universities and any student will be free to access it. For instance, a student of IIT Madras will be able to access study material of a specialisation taught exclusively at IIT Kharagpur. The NDL aims to streamline IDRs and other study material into one common online,” Prof. Das, also a professor of the computer and engineering department, said.

Except for copyrighted content, the data will mostly be available for free.

While the NDL is a relatively new concept in India, it has already made its appearance in most universities in the west. The content for the NDL will be derived from institutes of all types of specialisations and will include school-level study material as well.

The multi-faceted project would start by incorporating digital content of about 50 institutions at the primary level, keeping the next target at about 100 institutions.

Another focus of the project is to create e-content, comprising video lectures, interactive questions and answers and books, in multiple languages.

Stating that ‘a lot of activity is planned in vernaculars’, Prof. Das said: “Initially, the knowledge base will be created in English. We will gradually include vernaculars and create a multi-lingual interface so that students from across India can freely access it without facing a language barrier,” Prof. Das said.

The brainchild of a four-member team will be launched in 18-21 months and a prototype will soon be launched to test the project’s feasibility. About 100 courses will be launched at a preliminary level.

Headed by Prof. Chakrabarti, the proposal was worked on by professor in charge of the institute’s central library Subrata Chattopadhyay, professor of the computer and engineering department Sudeshna Sarkar and librarian of the central library B. Sutradhar along with Prof. Das.

Keeping in mind the evolving technology, plans are on to make the interface available across all platforms — cell phones, tablets and laptops. Content will also be developed keeping in mind the needs of differently-abled students.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kolkata / Kathakal Nandi / Kolkata – August 04th, 2014