Twelve years ago, in 2011 when Mamata Banerjee assumed power in West Bengal, the state’s outstanding debt was around Rs 1, 92,000 crores. Hon’ble Chief Minister Banerjee and the then-Finance Minister and now Economic Adviser to CM, Amit Mitra, called it “a huge burden to
During Gandhiji's last visit to Santiniketan in 1940, a year before Rabindranath’s death, the two discussed the future of Visva Bharati. On the day of Gandhiji's departure (February 19), the poet requested in a letter that, in his absence, Gandhiji should focus on Visva Bharati;
The 1940s were an epoch of transformation globally. At the beginning of World War II in September 1939, India was deeply embroiled in the struggle for independence. Till then, Calcutta was a thriving metropolis and, commercially, culturally, and politically, one of India’s two major urban
Amar bhai er rokte rangano ekushe February/ Ami ki bhulite pari’ (How can I forget the blood soaked 21st February/ soaked in the blood of my brother) These lines from a song have transcended the mere boundaries of the written word or the musical note. They
On a Saturday evening inside Gana Bhavan on Jatindra Mohan Avenue in central Kolkata, hundreds of children sit quietly, thoroughly immersed in a performance by ventriloquist Tanmoy Adhikary. Some of these children want to be ventriloquists themselves when they grow up, while some others want
January 1, 1983 is considered the official birthday of the internet. At least in the West. In India, the first publicly available internet service was launched by Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) on August 15, 1995, which means we are fairly close to a 30th
The narrow lanes of Kiron Shankar Roy Road and Old Post Office Street are otherwise a mesh of old shacks serving a hot cuppa or bread omelets to hundreds of litigants, clerks, and lawyers who tread the footpaths every other day. These footpaths are also
It is said that God blessed us with His angels, so they guard and protect us, inspire and help us. The poor families living in different districts of North Bengal find such an angel, a messiah in Raju Nepali, an anti-human trafficking activist and a
Exclusive interview with Arpita and Anushree Located on the eastern fringes of the city, Dhapa is Kolkata’s oldest and largest dumping ground – a dead end where all dreams and aspirations are thwarted. The area consists of landfill sites where approximately 2,500 tonnes of waste are
Colonization and free market had altered the socio-ecological set-up of colonies as imperialist countries began to control the inhabitants and the natural resources of the Bengal Presidency. The plantations of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri became the seat of such exploitations. Most of the workers in tea