West Bengal has the potential to start a second Green Revolution : Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank

Biswabrata Goswami

Hummingbird News 

KHARAGPUR, 27 JAN: West Bengal has the potential to start a second Green Revolution. Prime Minister has set a target of doubling the income of farmers by 2022-23 and The Government of India has taken several steps for the overall and sustainable development of Indian agriculture, said Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’.

He on Monday flagged off the Agri-Food Techathon at IIT Kharagpur and also laid the foundation for Agri-Business Incubation Centre, which will incubate innovative ideas in agriculture and food technology domain for creating Agri-preneures.

Drawing reference of Prime Minister’s address at the programme of laying the foundation stone of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in Barhi, Dr Pokhriyal quoted, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also said that West Bengal is the focal point for bringing agricultural reform in India.”

Addressing the first Agri-Food Techathon organized by NABARD and IIT Kharagpur, Dr Pokhriyal said, “I am happy that Agri-Food Tekathon is associated with Shastri's ideal of 'Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan'. Shastri started the Green Revolution to make India self-reliant. He believed in the powers of farmers to bring a revolution in India's agricultural ecosystem. He believed in the strong relationship between farmers - food grains and life.”

This Techathon has been organized to promote the participation of the youth of India in innovation and entrepreneurship in various sectors of the agri-food sector. This agri-food techthon will identify new ideas for startup incubation in the region and help them become successful businesses. The main objective of this event is to find new solutions to agricultural problems through technical talks by encouraging academics and encouraging young farmers, besides spreading awareness is also an important objective of this program.

NABARD Chairman Dr. GR Chintala, IIT Kharagpur Director Prof. VK Tiwari, Deputy Director Prof. SK Bhattacharya, Head of Agriculture and Food Engineering and Center for Rural Development and Innovative Sustainable Technology, Prof Rintu Banerjee, Rajendra Mishra of IIT Kharagpur Professor CS Kumar, Head of School of Engineering Entrepreneurship, Professor HN Mishra, Nodal Officer, Agriculture Business Incubation Center, IIT Kharagpur were also present.

Agri-food startups are bringing a big change in the Indian food and agriculture sector by removing the shortcomings of the agricultural value chain, providing efficient products, technology and services to both farmers and consumers. They are providing services such as ICT app, farm automation, weather forecasting services, drones, inputs retailing, equipment hiring, online vegetable marketing, smart poultry and dairy, protected farming and innovative food processing and packaging. In 2018, there were around 500 agri startups in India which is very encouraging as these startups have raised around $ 130 million investment in the last five years.

Dr. Nishank further said, “I am happy that the measures being adopted by IIT Kharagpur have been integrated with the National Education Policy. Our new education policy is focused on interdisciplinary education and will ensure what students want to learn. Likewise, this Agri-Food Tekathon will identify new concepts and new ideas for agri-food startup incubation and will also help in transforming these start-ups into successful business ventures. Also, according to our new education policy, vocational education will start in schools from sixth grade and will include internships. Increasing the importance of vocational education will greatly benefit the growth of agri-food startups.”

The two-months long national-level online technical fest at IIT Kharagpur will have participation from over 750 university/college students, entrepreneurs and rural youths from across the country in the age range of 20-25 years with diverse academic backgrounds. 

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. G.R. Chintala, Chairman, NABARD, who was the Guest of Honor, said, “Keeping in mind the requirement of technological interventions in the agriculture sector, this techathon will create an ecosystem for the youth of our country to share the knowledge for improving the conventional farming practices for the benefit of our farmers. Agri-Food Techathon 2021 will provide a great boost to the young startups working on cost-efficient technologies for the agriculture sector.”

Highlighting the unique aspects of Agri-Food Techathon 2021 initiative, Prof. V.K. Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur, said, “We are moving at a fast pace to achieve the target of 125 incubatees in the next five years through Agri-Business Incubation Centre (ABIC). In order to meet the food requirements of 135 crore people, we require innovation. We need to produce more out of small land. Our Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has already said in 2015 that by 2022, the income of the farmer must be doubled.”

“We are also working on that aspect. The population involved in agriculture is shrinking due to their movement to construction, infrastructure development and other activities due to various reasons. There is a need for more and more mechanisation and innovation. Until and unless we use technology such as AI/ML, image processing, Embedded systems and IoT, it will not be possible to maximise the income of the farmer and maximise the yield out of the land. IIT Kharagpur has trained over 11,000 farmers in the last ten years on various kinds of irrigation water, drip irrigation and many other ideas from this Department,” Prof. Tewari said.

Hindi Academy plans to promote Hindi language in West Bengal 

         

Soma Mookherjee

City Editor, The Statesman  

KOLKATA, 24 OCT: West Bengal Hindi Academy today discussed various steps to promote Hindi language, literature and culture in West Bengal.

It was decided on the first meeting of reconstituted West Bengal Hindi Academy as directed by the chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

In this meeting, various discussions held to promote Hindi language, literature and culture in West Bengal. 

Mr Vivek Gupta, former Trinamul Rajya Sabha MP stated, “Four points - language, literature, culture and arts – were mainly discussed in the meeting. The members praised chief minister for taking initiative to set up first Hindi University in the state. It was also decided that in near future West Bengal Hindi Academy will stage one act play, organise poetry sessions, conferences on various topics across the state. The Hindi Academy will also focus on Hindi translations of famous Bengali writers and poets.”

Mr Gupta also said important initiatives will be taken to attract and encourage the new generation towards Hindi language.

“A move was also taken to set up a library and a large number of general and public interest books in it,” he said.

“With the co-operation of all the members, the academy will try to reach Hindi-speaking students and intellectuals not only in Kolkata and nearby areas but all over Bengal,” Mr Gupta said. 

Apart from this, the academy will organize discussions on other current topics of literature, language and culture, he said.

Earlier, the chief minister donated Rs five crore for the Hindi Academy.

Mr Dinesh Trivedi, Trinamul Congress Rajya Sabha MP is the chairman of the reconstituted West Bengal Hindi Academy.

Krishnagar girl scores 99.2 % in ICSE, becomes one of the top scorers across West Bengal

Krishnagar girl scores 99.2 % in ICSE, becomes one of the top scorers across West Bengal

 “I always thought of grabbing a spot in a select band of merit holders, but never thought of becoming one of the toppers in our state. I owe it to my parents, teachers, relatives and friends who have been my support systems all through.”    

                

 Biswabrata Goswami

 Hummingbird News

KRISHNAGAR, 13 JULY: Bringing laurels for Bengal, Sohini Halder, a student of Bishop Morrow School in Krishnagar, Nadia scored 99.2 percent marks in ICSE exam, becoming one of the top scorers across West Bengal.

She scored 496 out of 500 with full marks in English Literature, Mathematics, History-Civics, Geography, Physics, Biology and Computer Applications.

Daughter of teacher-parents, an elated and composed Sohini, said, “I always thought of grabbing a spot in a select band of merit holders, but never thought of becoming one of the toppers in our state. I owe it to my parents, teachers, relatives and friends who have been my support systems all through.”    

Sohini said she solved a lot of papers and that experience brought her success. She has never been to any coaching class as she solved previous year’s question papers consistently, which gave her confidence to fetch good results.

Her scores stood at 93 in English Language, 95 in Bengali, 98 in Chemistry and 100 each in English Literature, Mathematics, History and Civics, Geography, Physics, Biology and Computer Applications.

In West Bengal, 99.09 per cent of Class 10 students cleared the exam, while the pass percentage was 97.58 per cent for Class 12 students. Total 37,258 students from 382 ICSE schools took part in the ICSE examination, out of which 36,920 were successful. The CISCE said 25,058 students from 270 schools appeared in the ISC examination, of whom 24,453 were successful.

However, the board did not publish a merit list for the two exams because of the exceptional circumstances that saw both the ISC and ICSE examinations results being declared without pending examinations being held due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee congratulated the successful students.

“Congratulations to the batch of 2020 ICSE and ISC students successful this year. May the trauma you faced serve as a lesson for further success in your lives. Applaud teachers and parents for bearing with the situation. Do well. May all your dreams come true,” Banerjee tweeted.

While speaking to Hummingbird News, Sohini said, “I used to study for five to six hours every day and during the exam days, I never used to put pressure on me. I always focused on my self-studies besides private tuition.”

“I want to be an engineer in future because I love to read science. Beside my studies, I like to sing and read story books. I hide my story books under my bookshelf because I really like to read story books”, Sohini said.

Sohini’s father Susanta Halder, a teacher of Krishnagar Collegiate School said, “She has been a diligent student and her success speaks volumes of her sincerity and hard work”.

Her mother, Soma Halder, who is also a teacher of Aranghata Girls' High School, said, “I am very happy and I congratulate all who have helped her a lot in getting such a success in the exam”.