Lakhs stolen in Salt Lake burglary

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 

Kolkata:Burglars broke into a house at Salt Lake’s FD Block and fled with cash and jewellery worth several lakhs. The Bidhannagar North police have started a probe. 

The complaint lodged by businessman Shambhu Kedia, who lives in a three-storied building at FD Block, says that on Wednesday morning he found one of the almirahs on the second floor broken open and about 300gm gold jewellery and Rs 1 lakh in cash missing. 

Police suspect that the burglars climbed up the water pipes to the second floor. The window grilles of the room next to the pipes were broken open. The family was present in the house as the burglars broke into it and operated silently. 

The family said they had employed a domestic help from Bihar who left the job a few days back. The police are trying to track him. Incidentally, the police had last year arrested an inter-state gang that had come from Bihar. The gang had been involved in a daring robbery in CF Block.

Tax collection to resume in Salt Lake

Suman Chakraborti TNN 

Kolkata: The Bidhannagar Municipality is all set to restart the process of collecting property tax. The civic body had started collecting taxes in March, but the process had to be stalled a couple of weeks later after some confusion over tax calculation surfaced. 

“We are going to restart collecting property tax soon. Tax rates will be based on the old, 2005 rates as directed by minister Firhad Hakim,” said Bidhannagar Municipality chairperson Krishna Chakraborty. 
 

According to the old tax structure, those who have an annual valuation of their property between Rs 1 and Rs 999 will have to pay a tax of 3.5% of the annual valuation. The tax rate will go up to 10.5% for property that has an annual valuation of over Rs 10,000 (See chart). The civic authorities are expecting to collect around Rs 9 crore in the form of property tax this fiscal. 
Officials said that bills of those who have already paid their taxes will be adjusted and fresh bills will be sent to those who did not pay their bills in March. According to sources in the civic body, Bidhannagar Municipality had collected a total of Rs 6.57 crore in the form of taxes in a couple of weeks in March. “We have almost completed the process of calculating the tax rate based on pre-2005 rates and will start dispatching the bills soon,” said a civic official. 

Tax collection in Salt Lake remained suspended for a few years in the past. On February this year, the civic body sent a notice to the residents that the municipality will start collecting tax for fiscal 2010-11, 2011-12 and arrears from 2007 to 2010. There was a mad rush to pay taxes after the bills were dispatched. But many residents started complaining that the tax bills they received were not matching pre-2005 rates. The civic authorities then sought intervention of urban development and municipal affairs minister Firhad Hakim. The tax collection process was stopped after the minister admitted that there was confusion over the tax bills. There were some miscalculations in the tax bills that was prepared.

Wife ill, vice-chairman slams civic body

Suman Chakraborti TNN 

Kolkata: The Bidhannagar Municipality, which has drawn severe flak from Salt Lake residents for not taking adequate steps to control the dengue outbreak, was slammed by none other than its own vice-chairman Sabyasachi Datta on Wednesday. Datta’s wife Indrani Datta, a former councillor, has been suffering from dengue for the last 10 days. 

Datta, who stays in DL Block and is also the Rajarhat MLA, said the civic authorities were not taking proper measures to control the outbreak, which has reached almost epidemic proportions in Salt Lake. “More than thousands have been affected by dengue here. My wife is down with it, too. I officially informed the SDO about it, but nobody from the municipality bothered to turn up to see my wife. The health inspector only said that he was sorry to learn this,” Datta said. 

Datta also came down heavily on municipality chairperson Krisna Chakraborty. “As a resident of Salt Lake, I can say that yes, dengue cases are being reported from here. As the local councillor, I can say that my ward is very much affected and as the vice-chairman of the municipality, I do not know how to prevent the outbreak. Till today, the chairperson could not provide the exact figure of dengue cases in Salt Lake,” Datta fumed. Datta, who is the councillor of blocks BF, CF, CE, DE and DF, said all these areas are much affected. 

Chakraborty, however, said the civic body was taking all necessary steps to control the outbreak. “We are doing everything possible. We are working to create more awareness, too, so that we can prevent the spreading of the disease. I don’t know what Datta has said, but I don’t believe in politics over this issue. I have heard that his wife has had a dengue attack and I had called her up, too,” said the civic chief. 

Officials said a team of 50 civic workers was making rounds of the township, visiting 40 houses daily to spread awareness and distributing leaflets in the localities. They are also checking the houses and localities for stagnant water. The civic authorities are thinking of imposing spot fines on residents for not taking steps to keep their houses free of accumulated water.

Bidhannagar Municipality vice-chairman Sabyasachi Datta’s wife Indrani, a former councillor, is suffering from dengue

Sec V to get ring road, parking lot

Kolkata: In an effort to decongest Sector V and reduce the travel time between SDF Building More and 215A bus stand, the Nabadiganta Industrial Township Authority (NDITA) is going to construct a ring road along the waterbody behind the Webel office. The authorities will lay the foundation stone of the road on Thursday. 
    Also, the NDITA has identified a car-parking lot near 215A bus stand. It will be thrown open for the public on the same day. According to NDITA chairman and commerce and industries 
secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay, Rs 10 crore has been earmarked to construct the road. “As of now, there is no road on the proposed stretch. Once this road comes up, commuters will benefit from it immensely,” he said. 
    At present, commuters take the road along the SDF Building, Webel Crossing and College More before taking right turn to connect with 215A bus stand. However, there is no short-cut between these two busiest locations of the IT hub. During rush hours, commuters face huge traffic snarls to cover this 3-km stretch. NDITA officials feel the proposed 2.5-km ring road will help commuters cut the travel time between these two points. 
    Besides, the civic authority will also throw open a 1-acre car parking lot near 215A bus stand on Thursday for public use. “The lot will be able to accommodate about 150 cars for parking,” said NDITA chief executive officer B N Kar. This will considerably help minimizing the long-standing problem of illegal parking that Sector V has been facing over the years. The authorities are also working on setting up a multitier parking plaza in place of the current CSTC bus depot near the Wipro office. 
    As long-term plans, the authorities are mulling an option to develop intercity bus links where buses would ferry passengers within Sector V. Earlier, it was decided that no new bus routes would be permitted to ply in Sector V as there was much pressure already. 
    Apart from laying the foundation stone of the ring road and opening of the parking lot, the NDITA will also inaugurate two parks on Thursday. “I feel happy that we are not only taking decisions but ensuring that the projects are actually implemented,” said NDITA board member Suparno Moitra.

Blue-and-white makeover for Salt Lake soon

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 

Kolkata: After Trinamool Congress came to power in May last year, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) had untaken a project to paint the city in chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s favourite colors — blue and white. And now, Bidhannagar Municipality is catching up with the city civic body by givingSalt Lake a new blue-andwhite look. 
    To begin with, the municipality has started painting its 
five-storey building. According to officials, next in line are the traffic islands, pavements and the dividers. A fresh coat of paint is a part of the township’s beautification plans, a civic official said. 
    “Not only the municipality building, the walls of the traffic islands and road sides will also be painted in blue and white in several parts of the township, along with the trident street lighting,” he said. A portion of the walls surrounding Central Park has also been painted in blue and white. Officials in Bidhannagar Municipality feelSalt Lake has abundant greenery and the new colours will give the township a catchy look. 
    Recently, the civic authorities handed over the maintenance work for the township’s traffic islands to advertising agencies that use them commercially. According to sources, billboards that have been put up inside the traffic islands will be removed soon and the urban development department will renovate these islands before painting them. 
    At present, the civic body maintains over 50 big and small parks in Salt Lake. However, the department is working on a holistic plan to engage private players to beautify parks, waterbodies, ponds, median dividers and pavements not only inSalt Lake but in other areas like Rajarhat New Town, Sector V and Kalyani as well. Selected companies will be entrusted with maintaining the areas they beautify, a senior official said. 
    “We welcome this initiative of painting the township in blue and white. However, we feel strongly that equal attention should be given on repairing some of the roads that are in very poor shape. With smooth roads, the beautification programme could have received a holistic look,” said Bidhannagar welfare association secretary K S Sadhu.

The new-look Bidhannagar Municipality building

Govt mulls legal stamp on Salt Lake plot sale

Suman Chakraborti TNN 

Sale of leasehold residential property in Salt Lake is going to be legalized soon. 

    The Mamata Banerjee government plans to allow transfer of lease in the township for a fee. Most of the land in Salt Lake belongs to the urban development department and the government will fix the fee. 

    The state Cabinet meeting is likely to discuss the proposal on Tuesday. Salt Lake residents had been waiting for this for a long time. 

    If things go according to plan, plot-holders in Salt Lake can legally monetize their property by paying the government stamp duty, registration fees or some other levy. 

    “Leasehold land won’t turn into freehold land. We are mulling allowing transfer of lease but only with the permission of the government,” urban development minister Firhad Hakim said. 

    The government will continue to enjoy ownership rights and also earn revenue that it had missed out on earlier when property changed hands in Salt Lake under cover. 

    The Bidhannagar Municipality could never stop the under hand deals unless the original lessee walked up to register a formal complaint. 

    The proposal was doing the rounds since the days of the Left Front government but was allowed only for commercial properties. A case is pending in the court over the change of a commercial property into a residential highrise in HB block.Govt to fix lease fee per cottah 

    Once the proposal to legalise the sale of residential plots in Salt Lake gets through in the state Cabinet on Tuesday, the government will evaluate the plots in the township and fix a price for the transfer of lease per cottah. 

    Illegal sale of plots in Salt Lake caught the notice of the Mamata Banerjee government soon after the Trinamool Congress came to power in May, 2011. The government has been trying to find a way out since then. 

    Plots in Salt Lake were leased for a 999-year tenure in the 1970s to enable middleclass people to settle in the township on the condition that the leaseholders cannot transfer their plots. 

    According to the present rules, residential plots cannot be sold or transferred as the plot holders are actually lease holders and not owners. But later, some genuine problems cropped up. 

    The family increased at least by two-fold within a span of 50 years and the lessee could not do justice to all his/her children, because leasehold property can’t be partitioned and distributed among the heirs. 

    This prompted some to sell out the property illegally for a huge amount of money. According to estimates, out of the 12,000 plots in the township, almost 35% of the plots have been transferred or sold illegally. Plots measuring a cottah, which were originally leased out for about Rs 5,000, have been sold illegally for lakhs, say sources. Many such transfers are in the process with the help of touts and many houses have been illegally sold more than once.

Salt Lake Rabindra Bhavan plot ready Suman Chakraborti TNN  Kolkata: Salt Lake will get its own Rabindra Bhavan very soon. Bidhannagar Municipality will start building the structure this year on a 36-cottah plot cleared by the state government. The building, to be located at Salt Lake’s FE Block adjoining Central Park, will be the municipality’s tribute to Rabindranath Tagore on his 150th birth anniversary.      Bidhannagar Municipality chairperson Krishna Chakraborty said the plot has been finalized and the civic authorities will start work very soon. “We will kick off the project very soon,” she said. The municipality plans to foot the estimated Rs 10 lakh project cost from the revenue it earned from the Bidhannagar Fair it organized at Salt Lake’s Central Park last winter.      The building will be either a three- or four-storied structure with a statue of Tagore in front. Besides an auditorium for cultural programmes, it will have an exhibition room, art galleries and a library to showcase and display the works of the bard. The Bhavan will also have rooms for use by students and scholars researching Tagore, along with a cafeteria. The civic body will appoint architects to prepare a building plan.      The project had been on the anvil for quite some time. Residents ofSalt Lake had, for long, been demanding a centre on Rabindranath Tagore to facilitate research on the bard. Residents had also suggested that the centre have a stage for performing Tagore’s plays and musical repertoires.      Following the demand, the previous Left-run municipality had come up with a plan to set up a Rabindra Bhavan and had asked the urban development department for a plot. The civic authorities had got a triangular plot, but the then civic engineers had said that it was not suitable for construction of the Bhavan. The project got delayed after civic authorities requested the government to earmark another plot.      It was only after Trinamool Congress took over the reins of Bidhannagar Municipality and Mamata Banerjee came to power that an initiative was taken to revive the project.

Salt Lake tax to be levied after May 13

Suman Chakraborti TNN 

Kolkata: Residents of Salt Lake had better brace to pay property tax right after the assembly election results are declared on May 13. The Trinamool-run Bidhannagar Municipality is waiting for declaration of the election results before it starts sending tax bills to residents of the township. 

Neither municipality chairperson Anita Mondal nor vice-chairman and Trinamool candidate from Rajarhat-New Town assembly constituency, Sabyasachi Dutta, would speak on the issue now, preferring to reserve their comments till May 13. 

The civic authorities had, earlier, said they had come up with a new property tax structure in accordance with the Bengal Municipal Act, 1977. It had also been decided earlier to collect property tax with effect from April 1, 2010. The Trinamool-led civic board is expecting the party to form the next state government, which would make it easier for them to get the tax structure approved. 

Trinamool sources said the civic authorities will start sending tax bills once party chief Mamata Banerjee approves the tax structure after the election results are declared. Civic authorities plan to discuss the issue with Bidhannagar Welfare Association and other stake holders before the new structure is finally announced. 
Under this tax structure, owners of residential houses will receive quarterly tax bills ranging from Rs 70 to Rs 120. If the civic body collects taxes based on the new structure, it will earn about Rs 1 crore each quarter. 

Civic officials, however, said they would lose about Rs 6 crore a year if they collected taxes following this structure, which prevailed in 1977. But, at least, residents would be happy to pay a lower tax, they said. The civic authorities reduced their spending earlier by not using cars and mobile phones they are entitled to. “We have been trying to earn revenue from sources like amusement tax and parking fees,” said an official. 

The property tax dispute in Salt Lake has been raging since May 2007 when the earlier tax structure framed by the previous Left Front-led civic board was scrapped by the Supreme Court following complaints from the Bidhannagar Welfare Association. Since then, tax collection has been stopped in Salt Lake.

Miss-Utilization of Legal System in India by female named Sushoma:-

Again, we’re publishing news about a female who had taken Indian legal system as granted and molested the value of Indian cultures. We’ve always raised our voices against such activities where women are taking undue advantage of laws and bringing their male counterparts to the court. Women got such right due to the Legal system of India. This law was to protect them from humiliations, but unfortunately this law is getting molested and utilized against men time to time and these female are taking undue advantage of this kind of one sided legal system in India. Even, police had to arrest the man first without any interrogation and send them to the court after few days vide act 496 if a women lodge a case against her husband in the local police station. This harassment is not limiting only surrounding the man; it entangles his family and others against whom the women reported in the PS.

Sushuma Howlader (26) fled with a man named Ranjan Srivastav after getting married for more than 2 years. Suroth Howlader (29) filed a charge of adultery in the local PS and applied for a divorce suit at Nadia district, Kata Gunj, Kalyani.

Police didn’t act on that case, but when she brought the case against her husband on molestation, police arrested Surath from Nadia. Sushuma was found residing with another man in Sukanta Nagar. She brought allegations under different sections against her husband under the section e.g. 498, 302, and 506. These allegations comprised of kidnapping, attempt to murder and inhumanly tortures on wives. These are all un-bail able cases.

Cat’s Eye Investigations took up this case as always and started their investigations and found evidences which proves that, she’s guilty and carried away with her extra marital affairs. She is also guilty with polygamous attitude, because when she was found by the investigators at Sukanta Nagar, she was not staying with Ranjan, with whom she fled her in-laws. The case is still under sub-judice and Suroth received temporary bails to fight the cases at Court to get the divorce without any compensation.

Kali Puja in Salt Lake City

Diwali, celebrated as the festival

Following close on the heels of the Durga Puja, the Bengali equivalent to Dussehra, this festival celebrates the dark and bloodthirsty goddess Kali, conqueror of time and consort of Shiva. Icons are painted, religious pujas or ceremonies are performed and there are pilgrimages to local holy sites devoted to Kali, of which there are 51 throughout Bengal.

Kali is one of the most perplexing and mysterious figures of the Hindu pantheon. She is the supreme warrior-goddess, the very manifestation of female rage, bloodthirst and frenzy. She is usually represented wearing a necklace of severed human heads, with weapons in her six arms and drinking the fresh blood of her enemies from a cup. Her skirt is woven from severed human hands and she is depicted as standing on the prostrate body of her consort Shiva, or on a corpse (possibly one of her enemies). This represents her dominance and conquest of all enemies including time and entropy: she is the only force who can tame the inexorable power of Shiva, the Lord of Destruction.

Kali is also worshipped by her devotees in her aspects of Dark Mother, the fiercely protective female who unleashes her rage only to clear away obstacles and protect her offspring. She has also been associated to human sacrifice, orgies, demonic worship and unpalatable quasi-legal blood rituals, hence her devotions are often conducted with the utmost austerity and solemnity, partly to deflate her horrific reputation.

Kali is certainly an interesting and deeply symbolic religious figure, worth investigating, though don't go overboard: we wouldn't recommend impaling your boss on a pike to drink his blood next time you hit the glass ceiling.

The webpage of Online Durga Puja coverage is already viewed by our millions of our readers. This page was built in such a way that our viewers could click and vote the best pujo of Salt lake City.

Here, we've tried to cover the areas of Saltlake City as geography and few of the best Pujas online.
The Pages are organized such a way give below

Blockwise Puja

Barir Puja

Overseas Puja

Blockwise Picture Gallary

Bari Picture Gallary

Blockwise Video Gallary

Bari Video Gallary

Vote On Line

BE (East) Pjua

Donate Our Viewers also have donated through Paypal with the help of secured page. Here we like to mention that, any one can put as many of votes there in the Puja Online page. throughout the year.

--
Posted By Dibyendu Choudhury to Salt lake City