Stringent rules on the anvil for ornamental fish meant for aquariums

The Centre is ready to bring about stringent rules on the trade of breeding and selling ornamental fish. Once that is implemented, it will deal a big blow to the grassroot level "fish farmers" and traders. West Bengal generates nearly 80 per cent of India's production of ornamental fish, and large sections of people (over 200,000) are fully dependent on it as a means of livelihood.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 19 June 2017.

Most of the people involved in this trade are self-employed and investment of very little capital. The central notification of May 27 has taken even Benfish by surprise. This is a government of West Bengal initiative and it runs a project for breeding of ornamental fish. They are not aware of this order.
The market of ornamental fish is vast and the Galiff Street market has 500-700 stalls that sell such fish every Sunday.


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West Bengal to build a jewellery park to rehabilitate gold artisans

Many gold artisans have lost their jobs due to demonetization and the West Bengal government plans to rehabilitate them by building a jewelry park - it will be the third of its kind and will be in the vicinity of Belgharia Expressway in Howrah.
The place has road links to Kolkata, Howrah, Kharagpur and Durgapur and is hardly 12-Km from the central business district while the airport is at a distance of 22-Km.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 14 February 2017.

The proposed jewellery park, pegged at Rs 80crore, will be developed as a public-private-partnership project on an eight-acre plot and the authorities are in negotiations with an Italian company who will prepare the design of the park. The plan is to complete construction within two years. There will be a two-storeyed Standard Design Factory (SDF) and its upper floor will accommodate 1,000 manufacturing units and employ at least 25,000 gold artisans at a time.
The park will cater to both retail and wholesale customers with special thrust on export of gems and jewellery.
Of course, there is a similar hub at another location just a few kilometres away which raises questions about viability of having two similar hubs so near to each other.


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Tiger sighted in North Bengal after 40 years

It was the rare sight of a tiger in upper Neora Valley National Park in West Bengal’s Darjeeling district that has brought cheers to conservationists and wildlife enthusiasts because it has happened after 40 years.
A person was driving downhill when he spotted a Royal Bengal tiger between Pedong and Lava and, he quickly snapped a photograph of the elusive predator as not just proof but for the records as well.
This has been reported in thehindu.com dated 20 January 2017.

The Range officer reached the spot where the tiger was spotted and found pugmarks. There was also a half-eaten carcass of a cattle along with tiger scat was found at the spot.
Evidences of the presence of tigers in north Bengal, in areas like the Buxa Reserve, have been found in the past but there was no photographic proof for the past four decades. Forest officials believe that the tiger was sighted at height of 7,000- 8000 feet above sea level.


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Mamata Banerjee to visit the United States in 2017 to woo industries

Getting industries to come to West Bengal is one of the priorities of Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of the state. Therefore, she has chosen to go to the USA in 2017 and bypass Harvard University who have sent an invite to her.
The university's Kennedy School of Government wants the chief minister to deliver the keynote address at the India Exchange programme scheduled in February, 2017 but, Mamata Banerjee prefers to go to the US in the later half of 2017 and showcase Bengal as an investment destination.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 1 November 2016.

Incidentally, she had turned down a similar request from Harvard in 2011.
The preference of USA over Harvard is that US-India Business Council has invited Mamata to the USA. THe invitation is from USIBC chairman Ajay Banga - the MasterCard global CEO. He has promised the CM to arrange for an investors' meet in the US.
Moreover, she has also got an invite from under secretary (political affairs) Thomas A Shannon to Washington DC. This happened when he met Mamata in Kolkata on July 1.
It is understood that she might stop over at Boston - where Harvard, MIT and Tufts Universities are situated - in the course of the proposed US tour.


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National Green Tribunal directs Visva-Bharati to stop the Poush Mela or shift its venue

The poush mela or the fair in the Bengali month of had been started in 1894 by Rabindranath Tagore's father Maharshi Devendranath - the objective was to promote local artisans. It is held for three days in December on the "mela ground" located on the campus of Vishva-Bharati University.
However, it does not wind up within three days but an extended version of the fair called Bhanga Mela continues for another 10-12 days. This is a gross violation of environmental norms during the fair.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 10 August 2016.

Hence, the National Green Tribunal has directed Visva-Bharati to either stop the Pous Mela or shift its venue from its current venue. The mela had been started with a noble purpose but, gradually, the purpose has disappeared and it has now been commercialised and taken over by unscrupulous elements.
The tribunal has directed Visva-Bharati to file an affidavit stating its decision in this regard and the state government should also inform how it planned to help the varsity. The tribunal's ruling has come based on a petition filed by green activist Subhas Dutta in February who had alleged there was gross violation of environmental norms during the fair.


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West Bengal government trying to woo IT sector with more facilities

The government of West Bengal wants to woo the IT industry in Salt Lake Sector-V with promises of more facilities. Hence, the administration plans to hold a meeting with IT representatives to discuss the problems the industry is facing. The initiative has come at an opportune moment since the government has signaled a crackdown on syndicates. These cartels had been tormenting the IT hubs of Sector V and Rajarhat-New Town.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 31 July 2016.

The meeting will be held at Nabanna, the state secretariat. Since the state has not yet explicitly cleared the air on SEZ status for IT projects, the government is making an effort to "build confidence through other measures".
The "law and order" in Salt Lake Sector would be on the agenda apart from issues like adequate streetlights in and around Sector V, parking problems and increase in the number of hawkers.
Sector-V is home to 350 small, medium and big companies, most of them in the IT sector. There are nearly 150 plots measuring between two and five cottahs lying vacant in Sector V and its adjoining areas and the government was determined to ensure tat syndicates do not interfere in the way of industrialization.
It is estimated that nearly 1.5 lakh employees come to Sector V daily and 40 per cent of the workforce were women. To cater to them, around 12,000 vehicles ply in the area every day.


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Bomb making is a cottage industry of Bengal - at least 12 minors killed in Pingla while making bombs

#PinglaBlast #WestBengal #Midnapore Bomb making appears to be a thriving cottage industry in West Bengal and, this has been revealed in the latest incident of the death of at least 12 minors in an explosion in a ‘factory’ situated in Pingla village of West Midnapore district. Reports indicate that crude homemade bombs used to be made in this location as reported in telegraphindia.com dated 8 May 2015.

This explosion in West Midnapore's Pingla has blown the veil off the cottage industry that thrives on explosives and employs thousands – most of those employed are minors and are poorly paid.
Senior officials in the state crime records bureau and their counterparts in the home department agree that the business of manufacturing and marketing crude bombs and explosives had been flourishing in a number of pockets of West Midnapore, Burdwan, Murshidabad and Birbhum since 2007.
Earlier the clients used to be from the CPM and TMC and, now, the BJP has also joined up because these bombs are useful to strike fear among the population.
Crude bombs are of two types - round and cylindrical. The former have jute fibers wrapped tightly around a paper packet that is filled with explosive materials. The latter are made from iron pipes in which are filled explosives including gunpowder and splinters.

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West Bengal wanted CBI enquiry into Ranaghat nun rape case – center says ‘sorry’

#ranaghat #westbengal #nunrape #CID #CBI The gang rape of a 71-year-old nun of a convent in Ranaghat by a gang of miscreants and the inability of the local police or CID to apprehend the culprits even though CCTV footage showed the faces of the rapists was an embarrassment for the West Bengal government. This gave rise to a situation when the state asked the CBI to step in.
But, the center has said ‘sorry’ as reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 28 March 2015.
This has come as a shock to the state government of Mamata Banerjee. Till now, she had opposed any move to involve the CBI in crimes that were committed in her state even though there was a clamor to hand over the cases to the central agency.

But, this was a different kettle of fish for her. Observers feel that she wanted to wash of her responsibility by transferring the case to a central agency. Thereby, the blame for delays would not be assignable to her government. From the ‘sorry’ of the center, it is obvious that the center has seen through her game plan.
The reasons given for the refusal is that since the CID has succeeded in arresting two of the culprits, albeit late in the day, they could arrest the others as well.

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