Kolkata News

[niljee]

There was a thread on this topic before, but I think it got changed to another one or got deleted. I felt the need of this thread for sharing current news items related to Kolkata.

[niljee]

Washington: New Delhi and Mumbai occupy 45th and 46th position while Kolkata is placed at 63rd spot in a list of rankings of the top 65 global cities. New York, London and Tokyo are the top three cities in the list, a survey has said.
Karachi, the only Pakistani metropolis was ranked 60, Dhaka was placed at 64 while Beijing which suddenly caught the imagination of the world by successfully hosting the Olympics has been ranked 15th.
"The 21st century will not be dominated by America or China, Brazil or India, but by the city," said the report released by the prestigious Foreign Policy magazine in collaboration with A T Kearney and The Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

"So what makes a Global City? Not size alone, that's for sure; many of the world's largest megalopolises, such as Karachi (60), Lagos (59), and Kolkata (63), barely make the list. Instead, the index aims to measure how much sway a city has over what happens beyond its own borders -- its influence on and integration with global markets, culture, and innovation," the report said.

List of Global cities: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/node/373401

NB: GDP Wise Kolkata ranked at 44th and size wise 8th. The corresponding figures for Delhi and Mumbai are: 32, 2 and 25, 4 respectively.

[jacob302]

hey niljee thakns for posting that great piece of information...btw , we have a kolkata's news section

its our adda ghar

heres the link
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showth...3#post62099973

[niljee]

Originally Posted by jacob302

hey niljee thakns for posting that great piece of information...btw , we have a kolkata's news section

its our adda ghar

heres the link
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showth...3#post62099973

Thanks jacob. I guessed as much! The Kolkata news thread then got renamed to the Adda thread. I think its a great idea to have a thread where we can have addas on any topic like music, movies, fashion etc. However, I felt that there is a need of a thread covering only the contemporary news related to Kolkata - that way people can keep abreast of the happenings in Kolkata and also its influence/impact on the rest of the world :-) True, that there may be overlaps sometimes, but we can keep this thread typically for Kolkata news items appearing in the media.

[jacob302]

we should change the title to Kolkata and the World. that way any news related to Kolkata's influence on the world can be posted here.

[studdmanster]

A very good peice of information has been shared on this thread!!!

[Suncity]

Deccan Charters launches Kolkata-Jamshedpur air service

Deccan Charters launched a charter air service between Jamshedpur and Kolkata with an inaugural flight Monday. The flights would operate six days a week from Aug 17.

http://sify.com/finance/deccan-chart...qoEffijif.html

[niljee]

KMDA makes grand plans for city expansion
Suman Chakraborti | TNN

Kolkata: Now that it’s almost impossible to find living or office space within the city, Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) is focussing on expanding the city by developing areas just beyond Kolkata’s present limits — peri-urban areas in KMDA parlance.
These areas, on either bank of River Hooghly, cover a whopping 609.05 sq.km of land over 37 mouzas that include both rural and urban hamlets.
On urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya’s instructions, KMDA is preparing a comprehensive development plan for these peri-urban areas. “We are preparing a plan on developing civic infrastructure of the city’s surroundings,” said KMDA chief executive officer Vivek Bharadwaj.
The authorities are concerned that the high population growth in peri-urban areas is resulting in pressure on land, water supply and basic amenities like sanitation,
drainage and transport. These result in haphazard growth, unplanned and uncontrolled land use and environmental degradation.
Officials said the comprehensive plan, when implemented, will help create an eco-friendly environment with proper infrastructure and pave the way for housing projects and employment generation in these areas. The plan will
outline a land-use plan for the area, specifying building by-laws. The authorities have huge plans to develop the areas alongside Kona Expressway on the Howrah end and to further develop Kalyani area.
Ongoing development of Baruipur township is a classic example of how a peri-urban area surrounding the city could be developed, say officials. The state has a more comprehensive plan for developing Baruipur township over a 500-acre area. The South 24-Parganas district headquarters will be shifted to Baruipur from Alipore. A research and development hub spread over 140 acres of land will also come up in Baruipur.
“Several prestigious central government organisations, like Indian Association for Cultivation of Science, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Energy and Resources Institute, Defence Research & Development Organisation, have already been allotted land to set up offices there. Hopefully, they will start construction from early next year. We are, meanwhile, working on developing the land in the area,” said Bharadwaj.
KMDA is working on developing infrastructure for the township. There will be dedicated roads for cycling and walking, bus shelters with kiosks and link roads to the state highways so that the township gets properly connected with rail links and has easy access to Kolkata airport through EM Bypass. Apart from developing transport, the authorities are working on developing sewerage and drainage lines. For water supply, they plan to use surface water and even rainwater. There will be sufficient open space, parks and small waterbodies in the township to maintain ecological balance. The authorities are expecting to fully develop these infrastructure facilities within the next three years.

[niljee]

Rajarhat: Kolkata’s new book hub?
Suman Chakraborti | TNN

Kolkata: Steps are afoot to give the city’s boi para a new address.
If things go according to plan, book lovers will have another place — besides College Street — to visit to find the titles of their choice. At a meeting with the Publishers and Booksellers Guild on Saturday, the Housing and Infrastructure Development Corporation (Hidco) discussed its plan for a permanent book bazaar along either side of a 1.5-km stretch along Rajarhat’s main arterial road. It will have permanent book stalls with reading and publishing facilities. Housing minister and Hidco chairman Gautam Deb presided over the meeting.
“We want to set up a boi bazaar in Rajarhat where people can come not only to buy books but also to sit and engage in leisure reading. It will have a lot of open space. When New Town comes up fully, we would like people who visit the township from outside to stop at the boi bazaar and read books,” Deb said.
Under Hidco’s plans, the 1.5-km stretch would begin just as one enters New Town from Sector V. Apart from small stalls, the book bazaar will have two building blocks. During the discussion, the guild proposed
a book hub.
“We proposed that the minister set up a complete book hub in Rajarhat, where everything — from printing, binding to purchase of books — could be done. There could also be little magazine stalls and even handicraft stalls. The minister showed interest in the proposal,” said Sudhanshu Dey of the guild.
The guild will now prepare a report on what it wants the book hub and bazaar to look like and submit it to Hidco. The report will also include ways to implement the plan.
Already, space at the College Street boi para is exhausted. A book mall, Barnaparichay, is coming up there. Many publishers now want a completely new place like Rajarhat that will attract thousands of people every day once the township fully comes up. The authorities want to implement the project with private help and are in touch with a reputable private company to discuss the matter.
“We want private participation in the project so that it can be implemented on the public-private partnership basis,” an official said.
Hidco has long-term plans to earmark an arena in Rajarhat where Kolkata Book Fair can be held in future.

[SamitB]

TIGHT BITE
Narayana Hrudayalaya plans 300 dental clinics

ET KOLKATA
AFTER establishing a strong foothold in cardiac medicine,Dr Devi Shetty-promoted Narayana Hrudayalaya is now venturing in a big way into dental medicine and clinics.
The company plans to invest 150 crore for setting up 300 dental clinics over the next three years.It is also exploring options to set up a chain of multi-speciality clinics.
The foray into dental clinics is undertaken by wholly-owned subsidiary,Narayana Hrudayalaya Dental Clinic (NHDC).It owns and operates a chain of seven clinics spread across Bangalore and Kolkata.It is even eyeing Malaysia and Indonesia to set up dental clinics.
The dental care market in India is highly unorganised and nearly 98% of the segment is driven by dentistentrepreneurs, said NHDC managing director Nitish Shetty.
The company plans to fund the expansion through a mix of debt and internal accruals.
While the immediate priority is to roll out 30 clinics in Bangalore and Kolkata over the next six months,NHDC plans to look at tier-II locations as part of its expansion.
Our aim is to emerge as the largest national player in dental care, said Rahul Menon,CEO at RTIICS,the Kolkata wing of Narayana Hrudayalaya.Dental health is achieving more importance due to the linkages with cardiac diseases and diabetes.Also,almost 80% of our revenues are coming from aesthetic dentistry,another big market segment, he said.
According to industry estimates,the dental care services market in India is estimated at $600 million,growing at 10%.
Dental tourism forms 10% of the total medical tourism revenue and is projected to grow 30% to 9,500 crore by 2015.
Narayana Hrudayalaya is also planning to foray into the multi-speciality clinics space on the lines of what Apollo Hospitals Group has set up across the country.We are giving shape to the plans.A few of such clinics will be initially rolled out in Kolkata, said Mr Menon.

[SamitB]

তথ্যপ্রযুক্তির সংস্থার ভবনেই এ বার ম্যানেজমেন্ট স্কুল
পিনাকী বেন্দ্যাপাধ্যায়
িশল্প আর শিক্ষা হাত ধরাধরি করে। এক ছাদের তলায়। সেক্টর ফাইভে শুরু হেয়ছে এক নতুন ধারা।

তথ্যপ্রযুক্তি সংস্থার ভবনগুলিতে গত এক বছরে অন্তত দশটি ম্যানেজমেন্ট শিক্ষা কেন্দ্র চালু হেয়ছে। শিল্প সংস্থার গা ঘেঁষে থাকায় তারা তথ্যপ্রযুক্তি সংস্থার ভবনেই জায়গা ভাড়া নিচ্ছে। বেঙ্গালুরু, পুণে, গুড়গাঁও, হায়দরাবাদে এই প্রবণতা দেখা গিেয়ছে বেশ কিছু দিন আগেই। কেন্দ্রীয় অর্থ মন্ত্রকের অধীন জাতীয় দক্ষতা উন্নয়ন কমিশনও শিল্প এবং শিক্ষা প্রতিষ্ঠানগুলিকে পরস্পরের স্বার্থে কাছাকাছি আসার পরামর্শ দিেয়ছে। এ বার সেই ঢেউ লাগল কলকাতাতেও।
রাজ্যের তথ্যপ্রযুক্তি মন্ত্রী দেবেশ দাশের মতে, এটি ভাল লক্ষণ। একই ছাদের তলায় আসার ফলে শিক্ষা প্রতিষ্ঠানগুলি যেমন শিল্প সংস্থাগুলির মানসিকতা বুঝতে পারবে, তেমনই তথ্যপ্রযুক্তি শিল্পমহলও হাতের কাছেই মানবসম্পদ পেেয় যাবে। শিল্প এবং শিক্ষা প্রতিষ্ঠানগুলির একই সঙ্গে চাহিদা তৈরি হেয়ছে বলে সেক্টর ফাইভে জমির দামও খানিকটা বেেড়ছে। সম্প্রতি একটি নির্মাতা সংস্থা সেক্টর ফাইভে ৫০ কোটি টাকা দিেয় তিন একরের মতো জমি কিনেছে বলে মন্ত্রী জানান।
কলকাতার একটি নির্মাণ সংস্থা সেক্টর ফাইভে ‘সৃজন টেক পার্ক’ নামে একটি বহুতল তৈরি করেছে। মূলত তথ্যপ্রযুক্তি ও টেলিকম সংস্থাগুলির জন্যই আধুনিক পরিষেবাযুক্ত ভবনটি নির্মাণ করা হেয়ছে। এই ভবনে প্রায় ৩০ হাজার বর্গফুট জায়গা ভাড়া নিেয়ছে নতুন একটি বিজনেস ম্যানেজমেন্ট স্কুল। আরও একটি নির্মাণ সংস্থা তথ্যপ্রযুক্তি সংস্থাগুলির জন্য ‘ইনফিনিটি বেঞ্চমার্ক’ বলে একটি বহুতল তৈরি করেছে। সেখানেও আরও একটি ম্যানেজমেন্ট স্কুল ২৫ হাজার বর্গফুট জায়গা ভাড়া নিেয়ছে।
সৃজন টেকপার্কের নির্মাতা সংস্থার চেয়ারম্যান প্রদীপ চোপড়া জানান, এক বছর ধরে সেক্টর ফাইভে ম্যানেজমেন্ট শিক্ষা প্রতিষ্ঠানগুলির জায়গা ভাড়া নেওয়ার একটা প্রবণতা লক্ষ করা যাচ্ছে। এর ফলে তাঁরা সেক্টর ফাইভে তাঁদের পরবর্তী বহুতলটিতে বাণিজ্য সংস্থার পাশাপাশি ম্যানেজমেন্ট শিক্ষার উপযুক্ত পরিকাঠামো গেড় তোলার সিদ্ধান্ত নিেয়ছেন।
েসক্টর ফাইভে ‘ক্রিস্টাল’ নামে যৌথ উদ্যোগে নতুন একটি বহুতল তৈরি করছে আরও একটি সংস্থা। এই প্রকেল্পর অন্যতম অংশীদার সংস্থার প্রধান বিক্রম দাশগুপ্ত বলেন, “কেবল কলকাতা নয়, বেঙ্গালুরু, চেন্নাই থেকেও বেশ কিছু ম্যানেজমেন্ট শিক্ষা প্রতিষ্ঠান সেক্টর ফাইভে জায়গার খোঁজে আসছে।”
Anandabazar

[sidney_jec]

thats great news

[skyscrapercity101]

what does that say sydney?

[sidney_jec]

Originally Posted by skyscrapercity101

what does that say sydney?

no idea whatsoever

[SarafIndian]

Major Brands goes east

Monday, 23 August 2010

Major Brands, which has a number of international lifestyle brands under its portfolio, recently opened exclusive outlets for five of its brands – Mango, Aldo, Promod, Charles & Keith and Inglot – at Forum Courtyard Mall in Kolkata. The total space occupied by Major Brands at Forum Courtyard is 6,000sq. ft. With the opening of five new stores, the company now has 53 outlets in India. Major Brands is banking on the huge number of fashion-conscious and well-travelled customers in Kolkata. The brand also has other international brands like Nine West, La Senza and Okaidi in its portfolio. The brand has a presence in Mumbai, New Delhi, Gurgaon, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad and Kolkata.

[niljee]

Originally Posted by SarafIndian

Major Brands goes east

Major Brands is banking on the huge number of fashion-conscious and well-travelled customers in Kolkata.

[sumang007]

Green activists slam Deb on Rajarhat
17 November 2010
KOLKATA, 17 NOV: Reacting sharply on housing minister Mr Gautam Deb's comments yesterday in a Press conference, city-based environmentalists today said the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report for the Rajarhat Township project was concocted and the EIA committee was manipulated.
They also slammed the minister who claimed that the High Court has not even once raised any objection against the project. A peoples’ green court was held on 14 March 1999 in Salt Lake that was then moderated by Dr Upen Biswas, retired additional director of CBI. Following this, Mr Subhas Dutta, green activist, had filed a PIL in the High Court against the environmental degradation of the ecologically-sensitive wetlands where the project was being executed. The High Court had instructed that the project couldn't proceed without an EIA report. The court also said that the project cannot be on the 3,075 hactare and the project area should not exceed 622 hactare.
Mr Nilotpal Dutta, secretary of Rajarhat Jami Bacchao Committee, said that the project area was divided into several parts and named Action Areas. Action area I was given clearance by the environment department on the basis of the EIA report that was influenced. Mr Subhas Dutta said that EIA committee was not qualified enough to conduct the assessment. The head of the assessment team was bribed and was soon promoted to a better position for giving a clean chit to the project. All aspects of environment were not considered in the EIA. Mr Shyamal Ghosh, secretary of Peoples Green Society, said that the project has disturbed the natural sewage and drainage flow. Dhupir Bill and Ghunir Bill have been filled up. The Nowpara Khal has been filled up to construct a road. Since the project area is situated on the Vidyadhari basin, in case of heavy rains the entire Barrackpore sub-division, Bangur, Lake Town and Even Salt Lake may be flooded. Moreover, the township is reeling under water crisis. sns

Source: The Statesman

[niljee]

Murthy visit raises Bengal’s Infy hopes
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Kolkata: The visit of N R Narayana Murthy, founder-chairman and chief mentor of Infosys, to Kolkata on Tuesday sent out strong signals that the IT major was finally giving a serious thought to investing in Bengal. Not only did he speak to chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and IT minister Debesh Das about the company’s plans for the state, but also visited the 50-acre site in Rajarhat which the government has allotted to Infosys.
That Murthy himself visited the spot and enquired about the nittygritty of the project agreement has fuelled the government’s enthusiasm, which is desperate to revive Brand Bengal ahead of next year’s assembly polls, said officials at Writers’ Buildings. If the deal comes through, the Left Front government would seek to gain maximum mileage from it before the crucial elections.
Murthy was in the city to take part in the inauguration of the state’s first cyber crime police station in Lalbazar. That’s where he got talking to Bhattacharjee and Das on the company’s plans for Bengal. Murthy was told that his company should take a call — in the next few months — on whether it was keen to use the 50 acres allotted to Infosys in Rajarhat’s Action Area II. “The government can’t keep the land eternally. There are other takers for the prime land,” said a senior state government official.
Apparently, Murthy took the question in the right spirit and got down talking about the deal. He wanted to know how much floor area ratio (FAR) or floor space index (FSI) would be given to them. FAR is the ratio of the total floor area of buildings on a certain location to the size of the land of that location, or the limit imposed on such a ratio. The government has decided to offer Infosys an FAR of 2.5 against the standard FAR of 2. Incidentally, Housing Infrastructure and Development Corporation (Hidco) had granted a similar sop to Ratan Tata for his cancer hospital. This way, Infosys gets more built-up space on the sprawling 50 acres. “It could be seen as a compromise because all big townships insist on limiting the FAR. But making compromises for brands like Infosys makes perfect business sense,” said an official.
Another sop the Tatas enjoyed would come Infosys’s way: it will be allowed to sell 20% of the land to developers at prospective rates. So, even after Infosys managed to use the land covering the maximum built-up area, it could re-lease out the leftover land at the prevailing market rate. In the bargain, the IT major would realise some of the land cost, which it still finds inflated compared to IT destinations like Gurgaon and Hyderabad.
But then, according to Hidco’s calculations, Infosys is already getting the land for a discounted Rs 1.5 crore per acre or a throwaway Rs 2.5 lakh a cottah. Murthy was given a detailed insight into the deal as well as the sops on Tuesday. “He seemed okay with it and has promised to get back to us soon,” housing minister Gautam Deb told TOI. The IT department, however, chose to remain tightlipped; all IT secretary Siddharth would say was: “No comment.”
Murthy, too, kept reporters guessing as he said: “There has been no decision yet. We will make an announcement at the appropriate time.”
Earlier this year, IT major Wipro inked a deal to set up its second campus and paid its first instalment of Rs 18.90 crore for 50 acres next to the land allotted to Infosys.
Murthy’s conversation with the CM and the IT minister was more constructive, in what seemed to be Infosys’s first interaction with the Bengal government in a long time, especially after the proposed IT park project was scrapped last year in view of the Vedic Village scam.
Vedic Realty was co-promoting the IT hub where both Infosys and Wipro were to set up campuses. Ten days after rejecting the IT township project, the chief minister had urged his cabinet colleagues to look for alternative land to accommodate the two IT giants; he also claimed to have got positive feedback from the IT firms.

[SarafIndian]

So, the infy drama begins again?

[niljee]

Originally Posted by SarafIndian

So, the infy drama begins again?

Yeah seems so This is some drama going on! Probably first time in the history a private firm is coaxed this much! But I guess the incumbents are much to blame for this misfortune and sorry state of affairs.