Asim Bando's KOLKATA BLOG

Theme maker Subrata Bandyopadhyay has taken the job to prepare the Durga Puja of Shib Mandir (Lake Road), Suruchi Sangha (New Alipore), Tangra Ghol Para. Shib Mandir: Blend of myth and science - The horrid aspect of human clone depicted under Hindu mythology would be prepared in the Pandal. 10 ft high 'Rakta-Beej' demon will be made by iron rods and pieces of tins, the demon will carry weapons of cloaning - structure of DNA. Malpractice of it may endanger the life. So the theme of Shib Mandir is : 'stop human cloaning'. The idol of goddess Durga would be made of clay and traditional as well. Suruchi Sangha: Water pollution is the theme of this year. Pollution of a coastal area somewhere in western part of the country. Reveal the power of Kundalini is the theme of Tangra Ghol Para. The Kundalini circle would be of 100 ft long. The top of the pandal would be in the shape of a fang. 25 reddish lotuses made of tin would be on the surface of snake. The idol of Durga wo

BJ Block of Salt Lake Durga puja committee performed the 'Khuti pujo' today. The theme of this year's Durga puja is 'Old Calcutta'.

A city based NGO in association with Rotary.International is on the verge of setting up a series of feeding stations for Kolkata's resident bird population, which includes such species as the Jungle Babbler (Chatare), Oriental Magpie Robin (Doel), Bulbul, Common Mynah (Shalik) and Tailor Bird (Tuntuni). The plan is to dig a large trench in a park. They'll dump vegetable waste from the local market into this trench and mix manure into it. The garbage will be covered up and in two weeks time, maggots and worms will form. The birds will feed on these. Former bird-catchers will be employed to attract the birds to the Parks, because they can imitate most bird-calls.

A joy ride on balloon would be the new attraction of the city soon. The big hot air balloon would fly and reach at the height of 500 ft from where a group of people will observe the city with a bird's eyes. The service will be installed at Rabindra Sarobar. One have to pay Rs 100 only to ride. The administration willing to start the joy ride before Durga Puja. If it is implemented it will be the second in the country. Recently a balloon ride has been started at Kankaria Lake of Ahmedabad.-- A. B.

25 July 2012 : A 2-day long seminar on the occasion of 100 years of the great film-maker Antonioni would be inaugurated today at 4pm at Nandan-2 after the screening of his film 'Red Desert'. The title of the seminar is 'Antonioni Today : Views and Reflections'. The participants are : Sanjay Mukhopadhyay, Shamik Bandyopadhya. Two other famous movies of Antonioni - Zabriskie Point and Blow-Up will be screened also. The programme has been organised by the assistance of Consulate General Of Kolkata, Italian Cultural Institute of New Delhi and Nandan.

For the first time, the prestigious Mahanayak Uttam Kumar award would be initiated today on this 32nd death anniversary of the matinee idol of Bengalees. The function of award giving ceremony will be held at Science City Auditorium from 5pm onwards. Soumitra Chattopadhyay, Supriya Devi, Sabitri Chattopadhyay would be given Lifetime Achievement Award. Mithun Chakraborty will be awarded with the prestigious Mahanayak Samman 2012. Special film award for acting and direction would be given to Aparna Sen. Moreover, 46 other actors, musicians, film directors, cinematographers, story and script writers, art directors would be awarded by the name of Uttam Kumar. They are: actor Madhabi Mukhopadhyay, Anjana Bhowmic, Sumita Sanyal, Sandhya Roy, Dipti Roy, Sabita Basu, Lalita Chattopadhyay, Lily Chakraborty, Mousumi Chattopadhyay, Debashri Roy, Shatabdi Roy, Rituparna Sengupta, Indrani Halder, Haradhan Bandyopadhyay, Biswajit Chattopadhyay, Nirmal Kumar, Ranjit Mullick, Dipankar Dey

Castelao's book of sketches and jokes recently published in the city in 3 languages - Spanish, English and Bengali. Title of Bengali version - Jibaner Saat Satero : Nirbachito Prasanga. It was published by Manfakira. Alfonso Daniel RODRÍGUEZ DE CASTELAO (30 January 1886 – 7 January 1950), also known as Castelao, was a Spanish writer on Galician language and one of the main symbols of Galicia. As a politician, caricaturist, and writer, he is one of the leading figures of Galician culture and identity. In 1886, Alfonso Daniel Rodríguez de Castelao was born on 30 January in Rianxo, Galicia, Spain. Castelao spent his childhood and adolescence in Santa Rosa de Toay, Argentina. In 1900, the Castelao family returned to Rianxo. In 1908, he obtained his degree in Medicine from the University of Santiago de Compostela. The next year, he passed his doctorate in Madrid, where he started to become known as a caricaturist, and settled down in Rianxo, joining the political mov