Page 3 - Kolkata

OTT helping filmmakers reach out to larger audience, says Rima Das

National award-winning filmmaker Rima Das, whose Assamese movie Tora's Husband' was screened at the 28th Kolkata International Film Festival, feels OTT as a medium has given more opportunity to directors and producers to reach out to a wider audience. Asked if it was helping independent film-makers and producers to get their work released without being shelved, Das said as a producer, she was of the view that it may be difficult to move forward with a film after making it. Over the Top platforms can be of great help in this context. Two of my previous films Village Rockstars' and Bulbul Can Singh' can be viewed on the Internet It helps me to reach out to a bigger audience, both as a filmmaker and producer, she elaborated. Das's 'Village Rockstars', which was India's official entry to the 90th Academy Awards in Best Foreign Language Film Category, had got two National Awards for Best Feature Film and Best Editing in 2018, besides being feted in several prestigious film ...

FIFA World Cup: In Kolkata, the final is still between Argentina and Brazil

Observers say that exposure to European football leagues, especially the English Premier League, has helped bring some diversity to the fan base in Kolkata more recently

Etihad Airways expands in India; Kolkata-Abu Dhabi service to begin in 2023

Etihad Airways plans to expand its flight network in India with additional services to Ahmedabad, Chennai, Cochin and Delhi starting from early next year. The Gulf carrier on Thursday also announced plans to launch a daily flight service to Kolkata from Abu Dhabi from March 26, 2023 providing a total of seven weekly non-stop services to the City of Joy. The flights will be operated with an Airbus A320 aircraft, offering 8 seats in business class and 150 in economy class, according to a release. "In parallel with re-establishing air links to Kolkata, Etihad will boost its network with additional services to Ahmedabad (bringing it up to 2 daily flights) and Chennai (twice daily)," an Etihad Airways spokesperson told PTI. Besides, Cochin will have an additional 6 flights per week, bringing it to a total of 13 flights per week, starting from March 26, 2023. An additional daily service will also be started to Delhi and Mumbai from April 24 next year. The re-introduction of flights to

Amit Shah to attend Eastern Zonal Council meeting in Kolkata on Dec 17

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be attending the Eastern Zonal Council meeting scheduled to be held in Kolkata on Saturday, a senior state government official said. Shah is scheduled to arrive in the city for the meeting on Friday night, he said. "The office of the Union home minister has confirmed that Shah will chair the meeting on Saturday," the official told PTI. Shah is slated to meet chief ministers of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Sikkim and hold discussions on unsettled issues between these five states, including those related to boundaries and completion of the eastern freight corridor. Alongside the CMs, chiefs of all central armed forces are expected to attend the meeting at the West Bengal secretariat, he said. The meeting, which was earlier scheduled for November 5, was postponed due to Shah's unavailability, owing to prior engagements.

Protests rock Kolkata hospital as student dies after being shifted

Students of National Institute For Locomotor Disabilities in Kolkata's Baranagar staged a protest against the management of the healthcare facility, alleging unavailability of emergency services

Amit Shah likely to visit Kolkata on Dec 17 to attend security meet

Political observers feel that the meeting and more specially the Union home minister's visit to the state to attend it is expected to be crucial on various counts

Demand for musical instruments up; Chennai, Kolkata rank as top exporters

India exported $22 million worth of musical instruments and their accessories in the first half of the current fiscal year, as compared to $38.5 million in the previous year

India to launch the world's longest river cruise from Varanasi to Dibrugarh

The cruise will start its journey on January 10 and reach Dibrugarh in Assam on March 1, after staying in Bangladesh for 15 days

Gold trading at Rs 50,280 per 10 grams, silver selling at Rs 60,000/kg

The price of 10 grams of 22 carat gold in Delhi, Bengaluru, and Chennai is Rs 46,240, Rs 46,140, and Rs 47,160, respectively.

Army land grab case: ED raids multiple locations linked to Amit Agarwal

The businessman, Amit Agarwal, is alleged to have illegally grabbed land owned by the Indian Army in Jharkhand

Kolkata witnessed good air quality index during Diwali: West Bengal PCB

The weather god played a role in ensuring the cleanest Diwali in recent times in Kolkata and adjoining districts as the cyclone Sitrang passed by during the festivities, in addition to awareness programmes and vigilance, the West Bengal Pollution Control Board (PCB) said. During the 2022 Diwali, Kolkata witnessed 'Good' AQI as compared to 'Moderate' or 'Very Poor' for metro cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai, the WBPCB said in a statement on Thursday. It said that improved air quality data and reduced noise level figures show that Kolkata in particular and West Bengal as a whole has witnessed the cleanest Diwali in recent times. "Barring violations reported from few pockets of the state, persistent awareness campaigns, vigilance from the WBPCB's Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) coupled with some influence of the passing Cyclone Sitrang have contributed to such improvement in celebrating the cleanest of Diwali in 2022," the state PCB said. While in Kolkata,

CBI tracking accounts of shell entities used in Bengal cattle scam

CBI sleuths have noted transactions with four Kolkata-headquartered corporate entities, to whose accounts huge sums were transferred in phases from the accounts of those named in the charge sheet

86% of Kolkata dengue cases last week reported from southern part: Report

The southern part of Kolkata has contributed 86 per cent of the total number of dengue cases reported from the metropolis in the last one week, as per official data. Data released by the West Bengal Health Department showed that out of the 596 dengue cases reported from the entire metropolitan area in the past seven days, south Kolkata accounted for 512. A Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) official said two boroughs covering the areas of Kasba, Jadavpur and Tollygunge in the south have logged the most number of dengue infections this year. Kolkata has seen over 3,500 dengue cases till the last week of October, and almost half of those were reported in the last two weeks, the official said. "Bansdroni, Naktala, parts of Garia apart from Bhowanipore, Alipore and Chetla (all in south Kolkata) are witnessing a surge in the number of infections this year," another KMC official said. Asked what could be the reason behind this, a health department official attributed it to the high ...

Kolkata AQI dips on Diwali amid rain; no escape from noise in Jharkhand

Intermittent rain and warnings of cyclone 'Sitrang' saw air pollution levels dip in Kolkata on Diwali, though the rain gods could not stem fireworks' use and the resulting noise in the capital of neighbouring state of Jharkhand. Air pollution level across Kolkata on Kali Puja-Diwali evening was "far less" than what it was on the occasion in the last three years, an official of West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) said on Tuesday. The dip in air pollution can largely be attributed to intermittent showers since Monday morning under the impact of cyclone 'Sitrang', he said. The light rain cleansed the air and prevented a section of revellers to go out and burst firecrackers, the official said. At Rabindra Sarobar in south Kolkata, the air quality index was 43 at 11 pm, which comes in the 'good' range. The AQI in the same locality was 168 around the same time on last year's Kali Puja. Similarly, the AQI at an air monitoring station in Jadavpur was 44 on Monday as compared to 24

Cyclone Sitrang brings down Kolkata's pollution on Kali Puja night to low

Beyond the imagination of many environment activists and green technologists, the pollution level on the Kali Puja night of Monday and the morning after in Kolkata

Kolkata police removes 500 TET protesters, says section 144 imposed

High drama was witnessed at the site of the sit-in by TET candidates here on Thursday midnight as police dispersed the protesters, saying section 144 of the CrPC had been imposed in the area. A strong police contingent led by senior officers removed the 500-odd protesters, who claimed to have qualified the 2014 TET exams but were still omitted from the merit list, from near the head office of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education. Section 144 of the CrPC prohibits the assembly of four or more people in an area. Violation of the order is punishable under section 188 of the Indian Penal Code. The agitators had earlier ignored repeated pleas by police to vacate the spot insisting they would leave only after getting appointment letters for teaching jobs in state-run and state-aided primary schools. A police officer said as the agitators refused to move away from the spot despite repeated appeals, minimum force was used to remove them from the site around 12.35 am. However, the ..

NIA files FIR in clashes between two communities in Kolkata's Ekbalpur

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has registered an FIR in the October 8-9 clashes between two communities in Ekbalpur area of Kolkata, a senior official said. The anti-terror agency is likely to start an investigation into the clashes from Wednesday and its officers may submit a copy of the complaint at Bankshall Court in the city, he said. The NIA has taken over the investigation and registered the FIR on Tuesday. "We are going to seek the custody of those arrested by Kolkata Police. We may seek video footage of the CCTV from the area. Our officers may reach the spot tomorrow," the officer told PTI when contacted. The police had clamped Section 144 Cr PC in Ekbalpur till October 16 to maintain the law and order situation in the area. So far over 45 people have been arrested in connection with their alleged involvement in the clashes. The Calcutta High Court last week stated that it is for the central government's consideration, given the gravity of the incident, whether t

Bowbazar residents hit by metro fiasco need to claim compensation in a week

Application forms for claiming compensation are being distributed among those affected by the damage caused to the 12 buildings in Bowbazar here last week during work in an East-West Metro tunnel, a senior official said. The forms will have to be filled up and submitted within a week, following which the claims will be verified by the police and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, the official of the project's executing agency, KMRC, stated. At least 12 houses at Madan Dutta Lane of Bowbazar developed cracks on Friday morning in central Kolkata following water seepage during work in the tunnel, the third such incident in a little over three years. The Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC) had said that efforts will be made for disbursal of monetary compensation within 15 days. So far, 183 people have been shifted to hotels from the affected buildings. "The compensation claim forms will have to be submitted within a week, following which verification will be done in another seven da

Dilip Mahalanabis, whose ORS saved lives during 1971 Bangladesh War, dies

Dilip Mahalanabis, whose Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS) saved numerous lives during the 1971 Liberation war of Bangladesh, passed away in Kolkata on Sunday, a local media report said.

Situation peaceful in clash-hit Kolkata area, heavy security in place (

The situation in Ekbalpore area of southwest Kolkata was peaceful on Tuesday morning with police keeping a close watch on the neighbourhood that witnessed communal clashes, officials said. Forty-one people were arrested in connection with the clashes, they said. "No untoward incident was reported from the Ekbalpore-Mominpore area since Monday evening. The situation is peaceful. Heavy police deployment has been made," a senior Kolkata Police official told PTI. Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC have been imposed in the area, which will continue till Wednesday. "Senior police officers are in the area and prepared to deal with any untoward incident," the official said. Seven police personnel, including deputy commissioner (southwest) Saumya Roy, were injured in the clashes.