ISSUE 24 June 15, 2015

News In Brief Modi, Hasina sign historic land boundary agreementMadhushri Banerjee

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s maiden visit to Dhaka was sure to be transformational for the bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh. Accompanied by West Bengal Chief Minister, Ms. Mamata Banerjee, 22 agreements have been signed between the two countries. The historic ratification of Land Boundary Agreement took place which Modi believes will be “a bridge between two nations”.The agreement was finally signed between the two countries 41 years after it was first endorsed. Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid complimented PM Modi for bringing political unity in India to ensure the passage of a bill to implement the LBA. Under this

Agreement, the two countries are to swap 161 tiny enclaves along 4000km, whose 50,000-odd inhabitants h a v e been deprived of nationality and public services.Coastal shipping, allowing Life Insurance Corporation in Bangladesh, a MoU on setting up of Indian Economic Zones, were some of the other topics discussed. As an initiative to boost connectivity between the countries, two bus services of the routes Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala and Dhaka-Shillong-Guwahati were jointly flagged off by PM Modi,

B a n g l a d e s h PM Hasina and West Bengal Chief Minister M a m a t a B a n e r j e e .PM Modi also received the

prestigious Bangladesh Liberation War Honour on behalf of former premier Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Modi strongly supported Hasina’s “zero tolerance” approach to terror. In the Bangabandhu Conference Centre Modi described terrorism as an “enemy of humanity.” While addressing a keen crowd of students of Dhaka University, he further added “What have terrorists given to the world? They do not

respect boundaries; they have no ideology, no principles, and no culture”. He also came out strongly against expansionism. The Bangla media frenzy flattened a bit as the Teesta water-sharing agreement was mentioned but not proactively discussed. Having 54 common rivers, it was expected that a comprehensive approach towards joint basin management would be worked out, but CM Mamata Banerjee practiced a skilled silence on the matter. India has further announced US $2 billion credit line to Bangladesh. This Bangladesh trip may have also acted as the peacemaker which Modi and Banerjee desperately needed.

From two minute noodles to long lasting harm Sreetama KarmakarCountry’s food regulator ordered the withdrawal of all nine Maggi instant noodle varieties from markets, tagging them “unsafe” for human consumption, dealing a fresh puff to manufacturer. Nestle India that is struggling to contain a spiraling crisis that has knocked 10% off its share price.The move came hours after Nestle recalled the popular snack across the country and three more states banned the product. The Maggi muddle also spread to other countries with Singapore following in Nepal’s footsteps and stopping import and sale of the noodles while the UK’s food safety agency decided to test a few samples.Nestle’s global chief executive Paul Bulcke flew down to India on a firefighting exercise, telling a news conference the Swiss company maintains the same standards for its products across

the world and that the lead content in Maggi is well below the prescribed limit.“We decided to take the noodles off shelves as there was confusion about safety. The safety of our consumers is paramount. We are working with the authorities to clear up this confusion,” Bulcke said.“Our studies showed no lead or MSG in 1,035 tests.We have been carrying out tests on multiple batches and all results indicate Maggi noodles are safe for consumption,” he added.On the other hand, the central government has sought reports from all states on June 5, 2015, the results of which has lead the company to its ultimate dooms day in the Indian market - complete ban on the distribution of Maggi across the

nation. Previously, six states including Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Telengana and Jammu and Kashmir have pulled down all the packets

from the shelves of every departmental store, along with a suspension from the Government of Singapore on importing the nine variants of Maggi Noodles from India.Adding salt into the injury, the Madurai Bench of the Tamil Nadu State Consumers Disputes Redressal Commission has also issued notices to seven persons, including Maggi’s brand ambassadors, Amitabh Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit and Preity Zinta, the chairman cum managing director of Nestle India Ltd and Commissioner of food safety, Chennai, after

Maggi failed the health tests, culminating to misleading advertisements. Anecdotal reports of adverse reactions to foods containing MSG include: headache, flushing, sweating, nausea, heart palpitations, chest pain and weakness. Hardly convincing or reassuring statements for a layman has been received from Nestle India post all the allegations against it as a move to restrict the flow of its target consumers on the court of the existing competitors. Argumentative and rhetoric approach from the PR desk of the company is acting all mute in a country which floats over emotions. A company known for its ‘arrogant’ corporate responsibility for years might have to face a hefty penalty with complete erosion of the brand value and market share if the allegation has proved to be true.

Barcelona wins Champions League Indrajit Bhattacharjee

Oxford gets first woman V.C

Professor Louise Richardson is to be appointed as the first female vice chancellor in Oxford University’s record of 800 years. An expert on the growth of terrorist m o v e m e n t s , R i c h a r d s o n ’ s appointment to a seven year term as vice chancellor is subjected to approval by the university’s congregation.

Country’s first transgender principal

Manabi Bandopadhyay, a former contestant of a reality show in a Bengali channel, an author and a professor, is set to take charge as the principal of Krishnanagar Women’s College in West Bengal on June 9. She is country’s first transgender principal.

Kolkata- Dhaka- Agartala bus service

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart, Sheikh Hasina along with Chief Minister of Bengal, Mamata Banerjee flagged off the Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala bus service with the aim to bolster the bilateral relations between the two countries.

Wawrinka, the new clay king

Stanislas Wawrinka stunned Novak Djokovic to win his first French Open title and thwart the world number one’s career Grand Slam hopes.

Nestle hires PR specialist

With the appointment of APCO, Nestle expects to tackle its crisis in the Indian market, where the brand image is getting tainted in connection to food safety.

Sepp Blatter congratulates Bagan on winning I-LeagueSantanu Ghosh

Spanish soccer giants Barcelona defeated Juventus of Italy 3-1 in the final to clinch UEFA Champions League. This was Barcelona’s 5th Champions League trophy and completed a treble (La Liga, Spanish King’s Cup and Champions League) this season. Barcelona is only the 5th team in history to win 5 or more trophies. The other 4 are - Real Madrid (10), AC Milan (7), Bayern Munich (5) and Liverpool (5).

Barcelona took an early lead through Ivan Rakitic in the 4th minute but Juventus equalised in the second half when Alvaro Morata found the net in the 55th minute.Barcelona had previously won the crown in 1996, 2006, 2009 and 2011. With this defeat, Juventus became the first team to lose 6 finals. “It’s incredible, it’s something unique. To win these trophies you have to suffer. I think after the equaliser they pushed on a little more, but we have players who made the difference. We have gone from game-to-game and achieved all our objectives,” Suarez said.“The best thing about this side is the spirit and the fact we’ve been united since the start of the season,” he added.

Is the letter ‘S’ special for Mohun Bagan? This tradition of ‘S’ was started in 1913 when Shibdas Bhaduri was the man for Mohun Bagan to win the IFA Shield. After him captains like Subrata Bhattacharya, Satyajit Chatterjee, Sunil Chetri and presently Shilton Paul won most of the trophies. I- league was the only trophy which was not present in the trophy cabinet of Bagan. In 2002 they had won the National league under the coaching of Subrata Bhattacharya for the last time. It seems to be a telepathy connection that in 2002 also the last match was the decision making match, but at that time Bagan was in a have to win situation against Churchill Bros.

When the corner taken by Sony Norde was taking an in swing turn Bello Razzaq headed it into the net. That was the moment when the reserve bench had gone above the moon. It was in the 87th minute when he scored this equalizer. In 2002 the goal scorer was also a foreign defender Abdul Saliu like this time. Mohun Bagan’s defense was playing in the top form this

season under the leadership of Bello. The quality of Bengal football was dropping in recent times but this win proved that football is still alive in Bengal. In this team of Bagan, players like Shilton, Debjit, Pritam, Shukhen, Shouvik, Lalkamal, were outstanding. Their contribution is nothing less than the foreigners. FIFA president Blatter had sent congratulation to the national club of India for winning the I-league. After winning a trophy after 5 years Mohun Bagan supporters have shown their gratitude to the team by showing them huge support throughout the season and by giving them a hearty welcome after the team returned from Bangalore.

Champions - I League

ISSUE 24 June 15, 2015

The Team: Anshu Dubey, Adriana Eternity Hazra, Koustabh Das, Lahari Basu, Madhushri Banerjee, Sananya Datta, Santanu Ghosh, Sreetama Karmakar, Shubhasish Mitra, Subhecha Mitra, Sushobhita Kar, Sanjana Sharma, Tapatrisha Das Design Team: Banhishikha Ghorai, Rishin Bose

Chief Mentor: Dr Buroshiva Dasgupta Mentors: Debanjan Banerjee, Reshmi Naskar, Bhaswar Bhattacharyya, Saurav Basu, Barnali Ray

Campus Buzz!Koustabh Das

World Environment Day (WED) is celebrated every year on 5 June to raise global awareness to take positive environmental action to protect nature and the planet Earth. It is run by the United Nations Environment Programme.Campus Buzz on this auspicious occasion of the World environment Day ,discusses and collects opinion of the campus(through proper surveys conducted) pertaining to some of the most important environmental concerns of today.

1. Do you think it is important to protect our environment?

2.What is the major environmental concern for you?

3. What do you do to save the environment?

4. Do you think environment education is important?

5. Do you think environment education should be made mandatory in university curriculum?

Sobuj Rath, a tribute to mother earth Arjun Banerjee

Dhananjay Chakroborty, a taxi driver in Kolkata, has decided to use his green hands and transform his taxi into a miniature, mobile garden. A green campaigner on the move.The car has metal containers on the rooftop whose bottom is laid with soil, white sand and stone chips and the original green grass grows up with the aid of those mechanizations. It weighs about 65 kgs and cost Mr. Chakraborty about Rs. 22000 to build. It continues to cost him with the increased fuel consumption because of the added weight. However, Mr. Chakraborty said he does not mind it.A group of thoughtful and committed citizens can bring the change and probably one of the best examples to highlight the commitment, thought and love for nature is none other than Mr. Dhananjay Chakraborty’s taxi

in Kolkata with a bed of real grass on its roof, eight potted p l a n t s placed on the tray behind the rear seat and a green interior to go with his message to save and protect the environment. Where most of the taxi drivers in Kolkata are charging extra for their service than the metered fair, this man Dhananjay demands of his passengers an extra sapling to be planted. His family members call him Gecho Bapi for his love of tress. He believes that his taxi can be used for spreading a message among the citizens of Kolkata that trees must be planted and taken care of. The passionate

feeling for the support of the green environment is not financially helping this taxi driver as he has spent more than Rs 22,000 on

the bed of grass which weighs around 65 kg which not only can damage the roof of the taxi but also due to the extra weight the fuel consumption increases. But such issues have not put him away from loving the nature.Aiming to spread awareness, Dhananjay tends to educate his customers about the fast felling of trees and informs them about the hazards of the same urging them to take care of the trees. To add ambience of a garden the taxi seats have been given a yellow and green colour

having painted messages urging passengers to stop drinking and smoking. The taxi also houses a Nepalese knife which has short poems written on it urging people to follow the path of non violence. Alongside there is water from the Ganges and a picture of pigeon considered as a sign of peace.This 40 year old man driving the taxi named Sobuj Rath(Green Chariot) should encourage the citizens of Kolkata to join his noble cause to save the environment. Greenery is soon vanishing from the city of joy and when a taxi driver who is a man with a basic education can raise awareness among his clients and passengers to plant trees because he thinks it’s his moral responsibility then why can’t we take a step of doing something responsible for protecting the mother nature on the World Environmental Day.

Every day is environment dayAmrita Chatterjee, Director, Communications & Research, South Asian Forum for Environment, SAFE

Interview taken by Anshu Priya Dubey

Book Review: Inferno

1.The 2015 theme for the world environment day is, “sustainable consumption and production”. Do you really think this date is actually taken seriously by the masses?It doesn’t really make much of a difference if just one day in a year is taken seriously and rest of the 364 days engaged in unsustainable practices. Every day is environment day, and by masses, we mean the whole population, rural-urban, literate-illiterate, rich-poor, adult-child. Hardly, our media channels and print media gives serious space to World Environment Day, however the day is gaining popularity, and I am glad that school children, students observe the day.2.When it comes to environment protection, the most important factor leading to its success is the education and awareness of people. How do you get about it?Education and awareness needs to manifest into action, and only constructive action can save and protect our environment.3.Land/soil degradation is one of the major environmental issues, which needs to be checked immediately. What is

your contribution to it being a part of SAFE FOUNDATION?Land and soil conservation programs, are carried out by SAFE scientific team, and I generally lead the community mobilization and training programs in such projects.4.Your organization has played an important role in providing employment to many educated youths. Do you look forward to helping people who are less privileged when it comes to education?Our Resolve Trash2Cash program is an integrated solid waste management program that addresses to the needs of the ragpickers and waste workers. This program has generated employment to 65 slum women, and they are emerging as artisans who have successfully turned waste recycling into an art. SAFE with help of local administration is now structuring the education system for the children of ragpickers. We received UNFCCC Momentum for Change, Lighthouse Activity Award last year for the Resolve Trash2Cash program.5.Sanitation is a very big problem even in this century

in the rural areas. How do you plan to deal with this problematic situation?Problem of sanitation in rural areas basically lies in the habit and attitude of people, this therefore needs extensive program. For infrastructural development and requisites we have floated an entrepreneurial model.6.There are remote areas where people use nearby ponds to wash clothes, which is very unhygienic. What are the measures that you would like to take to treat such water bodies?We have to sensitize the administration and the citizen’s forum to keep the water bodies clean.7.Ma’am you have been awarded by the youth fund award. Being the Director, Communications and Research, SAFE how challenging was it to generate funds for your organization?Yes, I have been awarded UN Habitat India Youth Fund Award, but raising funds for organization or a cause is a different issue altogether. It is always challenging and moreover for my organization, South Asian forum

for Environment, it even more difficult, because people cannot see environment as something tangible and are reluctant to support financially as may be mostly because they do not see an immediate change. If you plant a tree, it will take 10-15 years to grow, if we conserve a wetland, the benefits doesn’t really come into the priority list of a person, however he continues to enjoy the nature services.8.What would be your environment friendly message for the masses on this year’s environment day?Reduce your consumption handprints! Less is happiness!

Book name- InfernoAuthor- Dan BrownPublisher- Doubleday PublishersPages- 609Publication date- May 14, 2013Price- $29.95, Rs. 299

‘The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who main-tain their neutrality in times of

moral crisis.” – Dante Alighieri‘Inferno’ starts with the quotes of Dante, and takes us through a neck-breaking journey of 609 pages, circling almost half the world, to find a plaque that claims to contain itself the power to destroy mankind.Dan- Da Vinci Code- Brown starts the tale with a prologue,“O, willful ignorants!” exclaims some mystery figure. “Do you not see the future? Do you not grasp the splendor of my crea-tion?”, and having said that, the man jumps off a building, or as “Inferno” puts it, takes his “final step, into the abyss.”

The plot starts with Robert Lang-don, the famous symbologist waking up somewhere in Flor-ence with a lost memory. And, as Dan Brown promises a twist in the tale, like his former works, in ‘Inferno’ you expect the same. With sheer brilliance, Dan Brown weaves the tale, which begins with the hero waking up with am-nesia. Soon, the plot introduces Sienna Brooks who happens to have an IQ of 208, and they are introduced to the mystery by the presence of a cylinder hidden in-side a titanium tube with a biomet-ric seal and a biohazard symbol. Pieces from the celebrated work

of Dante Alighieri, ‘The divine comedy’ have been used here as the bread crumbs to solve the mystery. Dan brown energeti-cally creates the plot, connect-ing three of the world’s most sig-nificant, antiquity-rich cities. Like his former novels, Dan Brown gives the art description of the places that the protagonist visits, seeking answers of the ques-tions that strategically pops up at alternate junctions of the plot.As the plot moulds to an unput-downable story, there you under-stand the absolute brilliance of Dan Brown, when he makes the impossible happen in the climax.

Tapatrisha das