Course in applied Vaastu Shastra Wednesday, February 28, 2007 | AY
Exterior Interior, a premier interior-designing institute, is all set to offer a course in applied Vaastu Shastra in Kolkata. Applied Vaastu Shastra is the biology of making a building or a structure. Vaastu has caught everybody's imagination as everyone wants to stay in a house that is correct Vaastu-wise. They even want their furniture to be Vaastu-compatible. The course will also cover Feng Sui. Vaastu deals with all the five elements of nature and Feng Shui with just two. During the course the students will be taken to construction sites where Vaastu is being applied to get a practical insight of the application. They will also visit places that are being done up the Vaastu way. The course will be offered in three slabs — basic, advance and advance certificate. Each slab will be for three months so the entire course will last nine months. Admission will be preceded by an aptitude test, a psychometric analysis and interview.
Modern sports complex in S.Kolkata Tuesday, February 27, 2007 | AY
Kolkata’s estate boom has spawned the first sports complex, which will come up as a joint venture between the Merlin group and Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority at Kasba in the southern fringe of the city. The Rajdanga Sports-cum-Commercial Complex, the suggested name of this upcoming project, will have a field large enough to host games like football, hockey and cricket, but no track for athletics. Unlike the 1984-vintage Salt Lake Stadium, the last big stadium built in Kolkata, the Rajdanga complex will be able to provide an arrangement for only 4000 spectators compared to the The Salt Lake stadium which can accommodate 1,25,000 spectators. The complex has been designed by South African’s Bentel Associates and Edifice Architects of India, while Stup Consultants of France will do the structural engineering.
20,000 on the run in Kolkata Marathon Tuesday, February 27, 2007 | AY
This year’s Kolkata Marathon saw a whopping 20,000 participants turn up for the mega event that went off wonderfully today. A brainchild of the Athletic Coaches Association of Bengal (ACAB), this year’s edition, Kolkata Marathon 2007, was sponsored by mobile service provider Airtel. The keenly-followed event was flagged off from the marathon’s usual starting point at Red Road in the wee hours today. As expected, a clutch of celebrities from various trades took to the long run, including local cricketing icon Sourav Ganguly, who is currently the toast of the city with the World Cup round the corner. This year’s Kolkata Marathon was split into three broad categories — the men’s and women’s rounds and the ‘Fun Run’ for the celebrities.
Big B to shoot in Kolkata Saturday, February 24, 2007 | AY
Big B will be in town to shoot for Rituparno Ghosh’s English film, tentatively titled, The Last Lear. This is Bachchan’s first English film and also his first with Ghosh. Bachchan’s schedule is yet to be finalised but he will be here around March. The reason Bachchan’s dates are not being finalised is because of his son Abhishek’s marriage to Aishwarya Rai, which could be on some time next month. When Bachchan arrives in town to shoot, he will have returned to the city for a shoot after more than 30 years. He last shot here for Dulal Guha’s Do Anjane, where he was cast opposite Rekha. Incidentally, he did shoot for Shakti Samanta’s Anushandhan with Rakhee, Amjad Khan and Utpal Dutt in Darjeeling in the early ’80s.
Aravindan Puraskaram' for bengali director Thursday, February 22, 2007 | AY
Bengali film-maker Anirudh Roy Chaudhari has won the 16th `Aravindan Puraskaram' instituted by Chalachitra film society in Trivandrum in memory of celebrated director G Aravindan. The award, being given to the best debut director, carries a cash prize of Rs 10,000, memento and citation. Chaudhari was chosen for the award for his debut film `Anuranan' by a three-member Jury chaired by well-known film-maker Balu Mahendra. A total of 11 films including four Malayalam films vied for the honour. The award would be presented at a function to be held in Trivandrum on March 15.
Durgapur Steel's third quarter net zooms Wednesday, February 21, 2007 | AY
Durgapur Steel Plant (DSP) notched up a Rs. 200 crore net profit in the third quarter of 2006-07. The profit for the first nine months topped Rs. 400 crore, which was 109 per cent higher than the Rs. 191 crore achieved during the first nine months of the previous fiscal. While much of the present performance is being attributed to a motivated workforce, sustaining it hinges on a slew of projects being implemented by DSP to improve its product mix and reduce costs. The emphasis on special steel continued with the plant reporting higher special steel production and despatch. The introduction of an additional innovative rewards scheme, augmentation of employee welfare schemes and providing greater thrust on safety and house keeping have also helped DSP in posting record performance. DSP, which at present has about 56 per cent semis in its product mix, has already initiated a process to install a seven lakh tonne bar and rod mill at an estimated cost of Rs. 738 crore.
Free treatment for kids Tuesday, February 20, 2007 | AY
Nearly one and a half lakh babies are born with heart defects in India every year, most of whom need corrective surgery. Waking up to their plight, a Kolkata-based hospital has taken upon itself the task to mend little hearts for free. Open-heart surgeries have been performed on 30 children, who would have otherwise perished for want of money, so far. A little bit of help from Good Samaritans and social welfare organizations alike could go a long way in gifting them a new life.
Sourav Ganguly gets a warm welcome back home Monday, February 19, 2007 | AY
After a brilliant performance in the India-Sri Lanka ODI series, former skipper Sourav Ganguly returned home today to a warm welcome from fans. Police and RPF commandos initially had a tough time controlling the crowd, but they later managed to throw a cordon around Ganguly and escorted him out of the platform. Every success makes the team happy, said the southpaw who was declared Man of the Series for his brilliant performance that helped India clinch the fourth and final ODI as well as the series defeating Sri Lanka 2-1. The first ODI in Kolkata was abandoned owing to incessant rains.
First two-wheeler plant in the state Sunday, February 18, 2007 | AY
Global Automobiles Private Limited, a joint venture between Xenitis Group and China's Guangzhou Motors Company, on Thursday started production at its plant, the first two-wheeler manufacturing facility in West Bengal. Rs 300 crore was invested for setting up the plant. It will have an initial capacity to make 30,000 two-wheelers a month. In the initial phase, the project located in Hooghly district, will provide direct employment to 1,000 people. Ghosh said the firm's two-wheelers will be commercially available in the market from March 1. The company will launch three two-wheelers in the 100 cc, 125 cc and 150 cc categories.
NATMO to launch Golden Map Service Saturday, February 17, 2007 | AY
Using the latest developments in IT, the National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation (NATMO) would map the entire country down to the village level using spatial technology through its Golden Map Service. After the advancements in remote-sensing, GIS and GPS, now is the era of web cartography in mobile communication. NATMO will take a leading role in this field, in its Golden Map Service project. The programme will be launched tomorrow at the concluding ceremony of NATMO's golden jubilee. Geospatial technology has gone far ahead in the field of digital mapping through remote sensing, GIS and GPS. Large-scale data are now available on computers, depicting even 3D views of various infrasuctures like roads and buildings with help of high resolution imagery.
Wockhardt plans to invest in Kolkata Thursday, February 15, 2007 | AY
Mumbai-based Wockhardt Group plans to double the number of its hospitals from seven to 14 by 2008. This will increase the cumulative bed capacity of these hospitals from 1,500 to about 3,000. They are setting up new hospitals in Rajkot, Surat, Nasik, Nagpur, Bhopal. They will also commission two 350-bed hospitals in Kolkata and South Mumbai by end of next year. Wockhardt has announced that it will invest about Rs 400-500 crore for its expansion plans in the next 3-4 years. Wockhardt has seven hospitals specialising in areas such as cardiology, neurology, orthopaedics, ophthalmology and minimal access surgery, in Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad (two), Kolkata and Nagpur (two). The bed capacity of these hospital ranges from 250 to 400.
Sanjay Kedia's offices sealed Wednesday, February 14, 2007 | AY
Police in Kolkata have on Wednesday sealed the offices of a businessman in the city's InfoTech hub. Sanjay Kedia, an IIT Delhi alumnus, has been remanded to judicial custody for two weeks. The arrest - the first of its kind in India for such a crime - came after FBI stumbled on a syndicate in the US that was operating an online pharmacy selling banned psychotropic substances. Kedia was arrested on charges of dealing with a US firm linked to a drug cartel.
Chip design facility in Kolkata Tuesday, February 13, 2007 | AY
The first integrated chip design facility in India would come up at the Salt Lake electronics. The proposed `Indian Design Centre' would be a high rise building which would house research fabrication activity, training and incubation centres and offices of the companies. The facility would be built on a public-private-partnership (PPP) basis and its cost would be around Rs 100 crore. The Minister said that the potential for job creation in the facility would be around 3000. It was expected to be commissioned in the next financial year.
Kolkata's Birla hospital invests in Bangladesh Monday, February 12, 2007 | AY
Kolkata's B.M. Birla Heart Research Centre is planning to set up a 200-bed super speciality hospital in Bangladesh as well as eight diagnostic centres with an initial investment of Rs.300 million. The 200-bed super speciality hospital will come up in Dhaka. The construction will start shortly and be completed by the end of 2008. Of the eight diagnostic centres two each will come up in Dhaka, Chittagong and one in Jessore. The B.M. Birla Heart Research Centre was the first hospital in India to receive the stamp of quality on Feb 9 from the National Accreditation and Board for Hospitals and Health Service Providers (NABH) of the government. The hospital would invest about Rs.700 million over the next three years in various projects across the country.
WB defeats Haryana in football Sunday, February 11, 2007 | AY
West Bengal defeated first time qualifiers Haryana 3-0 in a men's Group A football match in the 33rd National Games here Saturday. For Bengal, Gouranga Dutta scored a brace while Shankar Sil struck once giving their team three points at the picturesque Northeastern Frontier Railway Stadium. In the 35th minute Sil's powerful left footer, from the edge of the box, foxed Haryana custodian Navjot Singh. West Bengal will now face Meghalaya in the next match Sunday while Haryana will play Punjab.
Protests over Tata Car Project Wednesday, February 7, 2007 | AY
Trinamool Congress activists opposed to the construction of a new car plant in Singur. The activists alleged that the West Bengal Government had forcibly taken away prime agricultural land from farmers for the car plant. The government claims that most of the affected farmers have been properly compensated. The factory in Singur, near Kolkata, will employ 10,000 people and produce what Tata hopes will be the world's cheapest car for 100,000 rupees2,300 dollars). On Monday, the protesters disrupted train services near Singur where Tata Motors started work last week on its factory. West Bengal, which has the world's longest-serving democratically elected Communist government, is wooing foreign and domestic investment after years of focusing on land reforms and empowering poor peasants.
Kolkata welcomes Ind, SL teams Tuesday, February 6, 2007 | AY
The Indian and the Sri Lankan cricket teams have arrived in Kolkata for their first ODI at the Eden Gardens scheduled for Thursday. The venue last hosted a one-dayer in November 2005 between India and South Africa. That match is most remembered for angry protests by the locals in view of Sourav Ganguly's omission from the team. The 15-member Indian squad barring Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar - who were playing the Ranji Trophy final in Mumbai, are already in town.
Instant soluble tea by IIT-Kgp Monday, February 5, 2007 | AY
The Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur has developed a secret method to brew instant Darjeeling tea, just like coffee. The Food and Agriculture Department of the institute is currently in business talks to transfer the technology for instant soluble tea. This novel technique comprises the steps of obtaining freshly plucked green tea (two leaves and bud) crushing the leaves, extracting the juice thereof and subjecting the juice to the step of fermentation. The fermented juice is then steamed and centrifuged to arrest fermentation and to remove the colloidal and suspended materials. It is then dried either by freeze-drying or spray drying to obtain instant tea. The residue of the leaves after juice extraction is subjected to fermentation and drying for manufacturing black tea.
Indian team finalised Sunday, February 4, 2007 | AY
The Indian selectors have announced the team for the first 2 ODIs against Sri Lanka, to be played in Kolkata and Rajkot on February 8 and 11 respectively. The nawab of Najafgarh Virender Sehwag makes a comeback to Team India after being rested for the entire series against Brian Lara's men. Rahul Dravid (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Robin Uthappa, Yuvraj Singh, Sourav Ganguly, Dinesh Kaarthick, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, S Sreesanth and Munaf Patel.
Indian team finalised Sunday, February 4, 2007 | AY
The Indian selectors have announced the team for the first 2 ODIs against Sri Lanka, to be played in Kolkata and Rajkot on February 8 and 11 respectively. The nawab of Najafgarh Virender Sehwag makes a comeback to Team India after being rested for the entire series against Brian Lara's men. Rahul Dravid (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Robin Uthappa, Yuvraj Singh, Sourav Ganguly, Dinesh Kaarthick, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, S Sreesanth and Munaf Patel.
