1.
Country
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A country is a region that is identified as a distinct national entity in political geography. Sometimes the word countries is used to both to sovereign states and to other political entities, while other times it refers only to states. The word country comes from Old French contrée, itself derived from Vulgar Latin contrata and it most likely entered the English language after the Franco-Norman invasion during the 11th century. Areas much smaller than a state may be called by names such as the West Country in England, the Black Country, Constable Country. In many European countries the words are used for sub-divisions of the territory, as in the German Bundesländer. The modern Italian contrada is a word with its meaning varying locally, the term country is frequently used to refer to sovereign states. There is no agreement on the number of countries in the world. There are 206 sovereign states, of which 193 states are members of the United Nations, all are defined as states by declarative theory of statehood and constitutive theory of statehood. The latest proclaimed state is South Sudan in 2011, the Kingdom of Denmark, a sovereign state, comprises Metropolitan Denmark and two nominally separate countries—the Faroe Islands, and Greenland—which are almost fully internally self-governing. The Kingdom of the Netherlands, a state, comprises four separate countries, Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao. The degree of autonomy of non-sovereign countries varies widely, some are possessions of sovereign states, as several states have overseas territories, with citizenry at times identical and at times distinct from their own
2.
India
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India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and it is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, in the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Indias Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a border with Thailand. The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE, in the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires, the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate, the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal empire, in the mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under British crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance, in 2015, the Indian economy was the worlds seventh largest by nominal GDP and third largest by purchasing power parity. Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the major economies and is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, a nuclear weapons state and regional power, it has the third largest standing army in the world and ranks sixth in military expenditure among nations. India is a constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society and is home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu, the latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi, which translates as The people of the Indus, the geographical term Bharat, which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations. Scholars believe it to be named after the Vedic tribe of Bharatas in the second millennium B. C. E and it is also traditionally associated with the rule of the legendary emperor Bharata. Gaṇarājya is the Sanskrit/Hindi term for republic dating back to the ancient times, hindustan is a Persian name for India dating back to the 3rd century B. C. E. It was introduced into India by the Mughals and widely used since then and its meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety
3.
States and union territories of India
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India is a federal union comprising twenty-nine states and seven union territories. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and further into smaller administrative divisions, the Constitution of India distributes the sovereign executive and legislative powers exercisable with respect to the territory of any State between the Union and that State. The Indian subcontinent has been ruled by different ethnic groups throughout its history. Between 1947 and 1950, the territories of the states were politically integrated into the Indian Union. The new Constitution of India, which came into force on 26 January 1950, the new republic was also declared to be a Union of States. The nine Part A states were Assam, Bihar, Bombay, Madhya Pradesh, Madras, Orissa, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. The eight Part B states were former princely states or groups of states, governed by a rajpramukh, who was usually the ruler of a constituent state. The rajpramukh was appointed by the President of India, the Part B states were Hyderabad, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Bharat, Mysore, Patiala and East Punjab States Union, Rajasthan, Saurashtra, and Travancore-Cochin. The ten Part C states included both the former chief commissioners provinces and some states, and each was governed by a chief commissioner appointed by the President of India. The Part C states were Ajmer, Bhopal, Bilaspur, Coorg, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Cutch, Manipur, Tripura, the only Part D state was the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which were administered by a lieutenant governor appointed by the central government. The Union Territory of Puducherry was created in 1954 comprising the previous French enclaves of Pondichéry, Karaikal, Yanam, Andhra State was created on 1 October 1953 from the Telugu-speaking northern districts of Madras State. The States Reorganisation Act of 1956 reorganised the states based on linguistic lines resulting in the creation of the new states, as a result of this act, Madras State retained its name with Kanyakumari district added to from Travancore-Cochin. Andhra Pradesh was created with the merger of Andhra State with the Telugu-speaking districts of Hyderabad State in 1956, kerala was created with the merger of Malabar district and the Kasaragod taluk of South Canara districts of Madras State with Travancore-Cochin. The Laccadive Islands which were divided between South Canara and Malabar districts of Madras State were united and organised into the territory of Lakshadweep. Bombay State was enlarged by the addition of Saurashtra State and Kutch State, Rajasthan and Punjab gained territories from Ajmer and Patiala and East Punjab States Union respectively and certain territories of Bihar was transferred to West Bengal. Bombay State was split into the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra on 1 May 1960 by the Bombay Reorganisation Act. Nagaland was formed on 1 December 1963, the Punjab Reorganisation Act of 1966 resulted in the creation of Haryana on 1 November and the transfer of the northern districts of Punjab to Himachal Pradesh. The act also designated Chandigarh as a territory and the shared capital of Punjab
4.
West Bengal
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West Bengal is an Indian state, located in East India on the Bay of Bengal. It is Indias fourth-most populous state, with over 91 million inhabitants and it has a total area of 34,267 sq mi, making it similar in size to Serbia. A part of the ethno-linguistic Bengal region, it borders Bangladesh in the east and Nepal and it also has borders five Indian states, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Sikkim and Assam. The state capital is Kolkata, the seventh-largest city in India, the geography of West Bengal includes the Darjeeling Himalayan hill region in its extreme north, the Ganges delta, the Rarh region and the coastal Sundarbans. The main ethnic group are the Bengali people, with Bengali Hindus forming the demographic majority, Ancient Bengal was the site of several major janapadas, including Vanga, Radha, Pundra and Suhma. In the 2nd century BC, the region was conquered by the emperor Ashoka, in the 4th century AD, it was absorbed into the Gupta Empire. From the 13th century onward, the region was ruled by sultans, powerful Hindu states and Baro-Bhuyan landlords. The British East India Company cemented their hold on the following the Battle of Plassey in 1757. Between 1977 and 2011, the state was administered by the worlds longest elected Communist government, a major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to Indias net domestic product. It is noted for its activities and the presence of cultural and educational institutions. The states cultural heritage, besides varied folk traditions, ranges from stalwarts in literature including Nobel-laureate Rabindranath Tagore to scores of musicians, film-makers and artists. West Bengal is also distinct from most other Indian states in its appreciation and practice of playing football besides cricket. The origin of the name Bengal is unknown, one theory suggests that the word derives from Bang, a Dravidian tribe that settled the region around 1000 BC. The word might have derived from the ancient kingdom of Vanga. Although some early Sanskrit literature mentions the name, the early history is obscure. At the end of British Rule over the Indian subcontinent, the Bengal region was partitioned in 1947 along religious lines into east and west, the east came to be known as East Bengal and the west came to known as West Bengal, which continued as an Indian state. In 2011, the Government of West Bengal proposed a change in the name of the state to Poschimbongo. This is the name of the state, literally meaning western Bengal in the native Bengali language
5.
City
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A city is a large and permanent human settlement. Cities generally have complex systems for sanitation, utilities, land usage, housing, a big city or metropolis usually has associated suburbs and exurbs. Such cities are associated with metropolitan areas and urban areas. Once a city expands far enough to another city, this region can be deemed a conurbation or megalopolis. Damascus is arguably the oldest city in the world, in terms of population, the largest city proper is Shanghai, while the fastest-growing is Dubai. There is not enough evidence to assert what conditions gave rise to the first cities, some theorists have speculated on what they consider suitable pre-conditions and basic mechanisms that might have been important driving forces. The conventional view holds that cities first formed after the Neolithic revolution, the Neolithic revolution brought agriculture, which made denser human populations possible, thereby supporting city development. The advent of farming encouraged hunter-gatherers to abandon nomadic lifestyles and to settle near others who lived by agricultural production, the increased population density encouraged by farming and the increased output of food per unit of land created conditions that seem more suitable for city-like activities. In his book, Cities and Economic Development, Paul Bairoch takes up position in his argument that agricultural activity appears necessary before true cities can form. According to Vere Gordon Childe, for a settlement to qualify as a city, it must have enough surplus of raw materials to support trade and a relatively large population. To illustrate this point, Bairoch offers an example, Western Europe during the pre-Neolithic, when the cost of transport is taken into account, the figure rises to 200,000 square kilometres. Bairoch noted that this is roughly the size of Great Britain, the urban theorist Jane Jacobs suggests that city formation preceded the birth of agriculture, but this view is not widely accepted. In his book City Economics, Brendan OFlaherty asserts Cities could persist—as they have for thousands of years—only if their advantages offset the disadvantages, OFlaherty illustrates two similar attracting advantages known as increasing returns to scale and economies of scale, which are concepts usually associated with businesses. Their applications are seen in more basic economic systems as well, increasing returns to scale occurs when doubling all inputs more than doubles the output an activity has economies of scale if doubling output less than doubles cost. To offer an example of these concepts, OFlaherty makes use of one of the oldest reasons why cities were built, in this example, the inputs are anything that would be used for protection and the output is the area protected and everything of value contained in it. OFlaherty then asks that we suppose the protected area is square, the advantage is expressed as, O = s 2, where O is the output and s stands for the length of a side. This equation shows that output is proportional to the square of the length of a side, the inputs depend on the length of the perimeter, I =4 s, where I stands for the quantity of inputs. So there are increasing returns to scale, O = I2 /16 and this equation shows that with twice the inputs, you produce quadruple the output
6.
Kolkata
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Kolkata /koʊlˈkɑːtɑː/ is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. In 2011, the city had a population of 4.5 million, while the population of the city and its suburbs was 14.1 million, making it the third-most populous metropolitan area in India. Recent estimates of Kolkata Metropolitan Areas economy have ranged from $60 to $150 billion making it third most-productive metropolitan area in India, after Mumbai, in the late 17th century, the three villages that predated Calcutta were ruled by the Nawab of Bengal under Mughal suzerainty. After the Nawab granted the East India Company a trading licence in 1690, Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah occupied Calcutta in 1756, and the East India Company retook it the following year. In 1793 the East India company was enough to abolish Nizamat. Calcutta was the centre for the Indian independence movement, it remains a hotbed of contemporary state politics, following Indian independence in 1947, Kolkata, which was once the centre of modern Indian education, science, culture, and politics, suffered several decades of economic stagnation. Many people from Kolkata—among them several Nobel laureates—have contributed to the arts, the sciences, Kolkata culture features idiosyncrasies that include distinctively close-knit neighbourhoods and freestyle intellectual exchanges. Though home to major cricketing venues and franchises, Kolkata differs from other Indian cities by giving importance to association football, there are several explanations about the etymology of this name, The term Kolikata is thought to be a variation of Kalikkhetrô, meaning Field of Kali. Similarly, it can be a variation of Kalikshetra, alternatively, the name may have been derived from the Bengali term kilkila, or flat area. The name may have its origin in the words khal meaning canal, followed by kaṭa, according to another theory, the area specialised in the production of quicklime or koli chun and coir or kata, hence, it was called Kolikata. The discovery and archaeological study of Chandraketugarh,35 kilometres north of Kolkata, Kolkatas recorded history began in 1690 with the arrival of the English East India Company, which was consolidating its trade business in Bengal. The area occupied by the city encompassed three villages, Kalikata, Gobindapur, and Sutanuti. Kalikata was a village, Sutanuti was a riverside weavers village. They were part of an estate belonging to the Mughal emperor and these rights were transferred to the East India Company in 1698. In 1712, the British completed the construction of Fort William, facing frequent skirmishes with French forces, the British began to upgrade their fortifications in 1756. The Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud-Daulah, condemned the militarisation and his warning went unheeded, and the Nawab attacked, he captured Fort William which led to the killings of several East India company officials in the Black Hole of Calcutta. A force of Company soldiers and British troops led by Robert Clive recaptured the city the following year, declared a presidency city, Calcutta became the headquarters of the East India Company by 1772. In 1793, ruling power of the Nawabs were abolished and East India company took control of the city
7.
Kolkata district
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Kolkata district is an administrative district of the Indian state of West Bengal. It contains the part of the city of Kolkata. As regards civic infrastructure, the area of Kolkata District is under the administration of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. But other parts of the area, and of the citys suburban areas, belong to the districts of North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly. Kolkata District is bordered by Howrah District, North 24 Parganas District, the office of the Kolkata Collector is in B. B. D. Bag, north of the General Post Office, none of the constituencies is reserved for Scheduled Castes candidates. Kolkata Uttar consists Chowringhee, Entally, Beliaghata, Jorasanko, Shyampukur, Maniktala, cossipur, Shyampukur, Jorabagan, Barabazar, Bowbazar and Taltola constituencies formed the Calcutta North West. Entally, Beliaghata, Sealdah, Vidyasagar, Burtola, Manicktola, along with four assembly constituencies from South 24 Parganas district, Chowringhee, Rashbehari Avenue and Ballygunje constituencies formed the Calcutta South. According to the 2011 census Kolkata district has a population of 4,486,679 and this gives it a ranking of 35th in India. The district has a density of 24,252 inhabitants per square kilometre. Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was -1. 88%, Kolkata has a sex ratio of 899 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 87. 14%. Kolkata metropolitan area Map of Kolkata district
8.
Line 1, Kolkata Metro
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The Line 1, also known as North–South Metro of the Kolkata Metro is a rapid transit system serving Kolkata, South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas in Indian state of West Bengal. It consists of 23 stations from Kavi Subhash to Dum Dum, of which 6 are elevated,2 are at grade, the line connects Dum Dum and New Garia and uses 5 ft 6 in Broad gauge rolling stock. Noapara is opened on 10 July 2013 and it is elevated and is located 2.09 km. north of Dum Dum. So now, Metro runs a total of 27.39 Kilometers from Noapara to Kavi Subhash where there are total 24 nos. of Stations. It was the first underground railway to be built in India, with the first operations commencing in October,1984, on 28 December 2010, it became the 17th zone of the Indian Railways. As a result, it took nearly 23 years to construct around 15 km underground railway from Birpara up to just before of Tollygunj Metro Station. The laying of the stone was done in 1972. Line 1 is 17 km. long with 17 stations, running of the first metro car on the line by 1984 was considered a great engineering challenge. Former railways minister A. B. A. Ghani Khan Chowdhury took a massive effort to perform it. The first section opened between Esplanade & Bhowanipore, first day Metro Railway Kolkata were started by Sri Tapan Kumar Nath and Sri Sanjay Sil. There were no connections of this stretch with the two depots at Dum Dum & Tollygunge, so metro cars had to be put down on the track near Esplanade by crane, by directly digging the road surface. Initially, only four car trains were run until 1986, there were no magnetic gates or escalators at that time and ordinary revolving gates served as exits. The Metro too operated on only a single line, two years later, line 1 extended up to Tollygunge, at the southern end. At the same time, the service was extended to the double line. Magnetic tickets and more entry gates were introduced at that time. The number of compartments in each train was increased to eight, Metro service was also started from Dum Dum, at the northern end, to Belgachhia in parallel with the extension of the line to the south. But this short portion was not popular and the service was closed down to be restarted when the stretch along the north–south corridor was completed. After 1986 many political incidents hampered the construction, and work almost stopped for six years. After restarting work, the Dum Dum to Shyambazar metro service was started in 1994 and this portion was served by four car trains
9.
Kavi Subhash metro station
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The Kavi Subhash Metro Station, formerly New Garia Metro Station, is the southern terminal station of the North-South corridor of Kolkata Metro in Kolkata, India. It is named after poet Subhash Mukhopadhyay and this station was opened to public on the auspicious day of Mahalaya in 2010. This metro station is at level and located adjacent to New Garia Railway station on the Sealdah-Sonarpur section. The station will become the southernmost terminal of the Jai Hind - Kavi Subhash corridor of the Kolkata Metro. The easiest & shortest kolkata metro rail stretch is kavi Subhash to Satyajit Ray film institute, even this simple Metro extension is purposely undone since 2011. New garia is a backward, mosquito infested place, a deadly dengue prone area. No progress in the New Garia locality is foreseen without immediate Metro rail connectivity with E. M bypass Easiest &shortest kolkata metro rail stretch is 5km, even this simple extension is purposely undone since2011. New garia is a backward, mosquito infested place, a deadly dengue prone area. No progress in the locality is foreseen without immediate Metro rail connectivity. Island platforms in kavi subash metro station are not built for Line 6, the deadline is already missed in March 2016. Not even the 1st phase of New Garia - Airport link is commissioned yet, New Garia is an under developed mosquito infested area
10.
Kolkata Suburban Railway
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The Kolkata Suburban Railway is a suburban rail system serving the suburbs surrounding the city of Kolkata. Railways such as this are important and heavily used infrastructure in India and it is the largest suburban railway network in India by track length and number of stations. It has 348 stations and a length of 1,172 km. The suburban railway operates 1450 EMU services and 159 MEMU services carrying 3.1 million people daily and it runs from 4 a. m to 2 a. m in the night. The suburban railway services in Kolkata are operated by Eastern Railway, the Kolkata Metro operates the underground Metro services in the city as well. There is a separate Circular Railway corridor in the city operated by ER. The Howrah line of Eastern Railways has a stock of 12 coach EMU made by Jessop. BEML emus have also been bought but they are not in use, the Sealdah line has a rolling stock of 9,10,12 car EMU made by Jessop and ICF.2 BEML EMU trains of 9 coaches are also operational. The south eastern railways uses both 9 and 12 coaches emu made by Jessop and ICF, operated by the South Eastern Railway, this section of the line serves the south western suburbs of Greater Kolkata. The destination stations lie, In the south part of Howrah district like Santragachi, Shalimar, Andul, Uluberia, Bagnan. In the East Midnapore district like Digha, Tamluk, Haldia, Panskura, Kolaghat, in the eastern and southern part of West Midnapore district like Balichak, Kharagpur, Midnapore and Jhargram. The central part of Bardhaman district connecting the towns of Bardhaman, Gangpur, Saktigarh, Palsit, Rasulpur, Nimo, Memari, Bagila, Palla Road, Chanchai, Masagram, Nabagram, Jaugram, Jhapandanga. From Bardhaman, another suburban service connects the cities of Durgapur, Howrah to Bardhaman is reached by two corridors popularly known as the Main Line and the Chord Line. The main Line runs through the towns of Serampore, Chandernagore, Chinsurah, the Chord Line runs through the towns of Dankuni, Baruipara, Kamarkundu and Masagram. Tamluk, Nandakumar, Laban Satyagraha Smarak, Deshapran, Heria, Nachinda, Kanthi, Sitalpur, Sujalpur, Ashapurna Devi, Badalpur, Ramnagar, Tikra, Digha. Howrah, Liluah, Belur, Bally However, at Liluah, the destinations facilitated by this line are, In North 24 Parganas district along the banks of the Hooghly like Dum Dum, Barrackpore, Naihati. In North 24 Parganas district towards the north east and towards the Bangladesh border like Bongaon, Basirhat, the areas served are, The southern suburbs like Ballygunge, Jadavpur, Garia, Budge Budge, Sonarpur. In the South 24 Parganas district like Port Canning, Diamond Harbour, Lakshmikantapur, within Greater Kolkata, Sealdah, Bidhannagar Road, Dum Dum Jn
11.
Municipal corporation
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A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. Municipal incorporation occurs when such municipalities become self-governing entities under the laws of the state or province in which they are located, often, this event is marked by the award or declaration of a municipal charter. A city charter or town charter is a document establishing a municipality such as a city or town. The concept developed in Europe during the Middle Ages and is considered to be a version of a constitution. Traditionally the granting of a charter gave a settlement and its inhabitants the right to town privileges under the feudal system, townspeople who lived in chartered towns were burghers, as opposed to serfs who lived in villages. Towns were often free, in the sense that they were protected by the king or emperor. Today the process for granting charters is determined by the type of government of the state in question, in monarchies, charters are still often a royal charter given by the Crown or the state authorities acting on behalf of the Crown. In federations, the granting of charters may be within the jurisdiction of the level of government such as a state or province. In Brazil, municipal corporations are called municípios and are created by means of legislation at the state level. All municipal corporations must also abide by a municipal law which is passed and amended at the municipal level. In Canada charters are granted by provincial authorities, in Germany, municipal corporations existed since antiquity and through medieval times, until they became out of favour during the absolutism. In order to strengthen the spirit, the city law of Prussia dated 19 November 1808 picked up this concept. It is the basis of municipal law. In India, a Municipal Corporation is a local government body. This standard varies from state to state, according to laws passed by state legislatures, the Corporation of Chennai was the first Municipal Corporation in India. It was established on 29 September 1688 by the British East India Company, the second was Hyderabad Municipal Corporation established in 1869 by the Nizam rulers of Hyderabad State. The third was the Calcutta Municipal Corporation, established in 1876, the Bombay Municipal Corporation was established in 1888 by the Bombay Municipal Corporation Act. The Delhi Municipal Council was established in 1911 during the Delhi Durbar when New Delhi was proclaimed to be the new Capital of India and it was elevated to Municipal Corporation level on 7 April 1958 by an Act of Parliament which established the Municipal Corporation of Delhi
12.
Kolkata Municipal Corporation
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Kolkata Municipal Corporation or KMC is responsible for the civic infrastructure and administration of the city of Kolkata. This civic administrative body administers an area of 200.71 km2 and its motto, Purosree Bibardhan, is inscribed on its emblem in Bengali script. KMC is headed by Sovan Chatterjee the present Mayor of Kolkata, the KMC was established in 1876. Later mayors include Deshapriya Jatindra Mohan Sengupta, Bidhan Chandra Roy, Nalini Ranjan Sarkar, Abul Kasem Fazlul Haque, the city is divided into 144 administrative wards that are grouped into 15 boroughs. Each of these elects a councillor to the KMC. Each borough has a committee consisting of the elected from the respective wards of the boroughs. The Corporation, through the committees, maintains government-aided schools, hospitals and municipal markets and partakes in urban planning. The corporation as the apex body discharges its function through the Mayor-in-Council, consisting of a mayor, assisted by a deputy mayor, the mayor is responsible for the overall functioning of the KMC and has a tenure of five years. At present, the All India Trinamool Congress holds the power in the KMC, recently the KMC has faced a lot of criticism for legalising unauthorized construction largely responsible for a number of deaths because of fire. This was also responsible of the growth in the city. The city also has an apolitical titular post, that of the Sheriff of Kolkata, the Sheriff presides over various city-related functions and conferences. Another ancillary civic body is the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority responsible for the statutory planning, the KMA includes a large suburban hinterland around the urban centres of Kolkata. The jurisdiction of the KMC covers the area covered by the Kolkata Police, according to KMC website, erstwhile Joka-I & Joka-II Gram Panchayats were added to municipal limits, although information on their distribution into wards was not available. This addition increases the area of KMC to 200.71 square kilometres, in 2011, it was announced that Kolkata Police and Kolkata Municipal Corporation area will be coterminous. Kolkata Postal District however extends right up to Barrackpur in the North, Barasat in the East, up to Baruipur in South-East and Joka in South, the Postal code in this entire area starts with 700, indicating Postal Sorting District of Kolkata. Thus Kolkata Postal area is bigger than the area of KMC. In general term, people identify a locality with its Postal address, Postal address of people residing in the delivery jurisdiction of any of the 160 Delivery Post offices of Kolkata will be having PIN Code no. from 700001 to 700160. So for all practical purpose, anyone residing in Kolkata Postal area, the KMC is responsible for administering and providing basic infrastructure to the city
13.
Lok Sabha
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The Lok Sabha is the Lower house of Indias bicameral Parliament, with the Upper house being the Rajya Sabha. The house meets in the Lok Sabha Chambers of the Sansad Bhavan in New Delhi, under the current laws, the strength of Lok Sabha is 545, including the two seats reserved for members of the Anglo-Indian community. The total elective membership is distributed among the states in proportion to their population, a total of 131 seats are reserved for representatives of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The quorum for the House is 10% of the total membership, term of the House The Lok Sabha, unless sooner dissolved, continues to operate for five years from the date appointed for its first meeting and the expiration of the period of five years. An exercise to redraw Lok Sabha constituencies boundaries has been carried out by the Delimitation Commission based on the Indian census of 2001, the 16th Lok Sabha was elected in May 2014 and is the latest to date. The Lok Sabha has its own channel, Lok Sabha TV. A major portion of the Indian subcontinent was under British rule from 1858 to 1947, the Indian Councils Act 1861 provided for a Legislative Council consisting of the members of the Executive Council and non-official members. The Indian Councils Act 1892 established legislatures in each of the provinces of British India, although these Acts increased the representation of Indians in the government, their power still remained limited, and the electorate very small. The Indian Councils Act 1909 and the Government of India Act 1919 further expanded the participation of Indians in the administration, the Constituent Assembly was divided into two for the separate nations, with each new Assembly having sovereign powers transferred to it for the respective dominion. The Constitution of India was adopted on 26 November 1949 and came into effect on 26 January 1950, proclaiming India to be a sovereign, democratic republic. This contained the principles of the law of the land which would govern India in its new form. The Lok Sabha was duly constituted for the first time on 17 April 1952 after the first General Elections held from 25 October 1951 to 21 February 1952 and he / She should not be less than 25 years of age. He / She possesses such other qualifications as may be prescribed in that behalf by or under any law made by Parliament, a seat in the Lok Sabha will become vacant in the following circumstances, When the holder of the seat, by writing to the speaker, resigns. When the holder of the seat is absent from 60 consecutive days of proceedings of the House, when the holder of the seat is subject to any disqualifications mentioned in the Constitution or any law enacted by Parliament. A seat may also be vacated when the holder stands disqualified under the Anti-Defection Law, a member both of Parliament and of a House of the Legislature of a State. System of elections in Lok Sabha Members of the Lok Sabha are directly elected by the people of India, for the purpose of holding direct elections to Lok Sabha, each state is divided into territorial constituencies. This provision does not apply for states having a population of less than 6 million, note, The expression population here refers to the population ascertained at the preceding census of which relevant figure have been published. Lok Sabha has certain powers that make it more powerful than the Rajya Sabha, motions of no confidence against the government can be introduced and passed in the Lok Sabha
14.
Vidhan Sabha
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The Vidhan Sabha or the Legislative Assembly is the lower house or the sole house of the state legislature in the different States of India. The same name is used for the lower house of the legislatures for two of the Union Territories, Delhi and Puducherry. The upper house in the seven states with a legislature is called the Legislative Council. Members of a Vidhan Sabha are direct representatives of the people of the state as they are directly elected by an electorate consisting of all citizens above the age of 18 of that state. Its maximum size as outlined in the Constitution of India is not more than 500 members and not less than 60 members. However, the size of the Vidhan Sabha can be less than 59 members through an Act of Parliament, such is the case in the states of Goa, Sikkim, Mizoram and the Union Territory of Puducherry. In some states Governor may appoint 1 member to represent minorities, e. g. the Anglo-Indian community, if he finds that minority inadequately represented in the House. Those elected or nominated to Vidhan Sabha are referred to as Members of Legislative Assembly or MLAsEach Vidhan Sabha assembles for a five-year term, during a State of Emergency, its term may be extended past five years or it may be dissolved. The term of the Legislative Assembly is five years, but it may be dissolved even earlier than five years by the Governor on the request of the Chief Minister. The term of a Legislative Assembly may be extended during an Emergency, a Vidhan Sabha can also be dissolved if a motion of no confidence is passed within it against the majority party or coalition. To become a member of a Vidhan Sabha, a person must be a citizen of India and he or she should be mentally sound and should not be bankrupt. He or she should also state an affidavit that there are no criminal procedures against him or her, Speaker of Vidhan Sabha who is responsible for the conduct of business of the body, and also a Deputy Speaker to preside during the Speakers absence. The Speaker acts as a judge and manages all debates. A motion of no confidence against the government in the state can only be introduced in the Vidhan Sabha, if it is passed by a majority vote, then the Chief Minister and his Council of Ministers must collectively resign. A money bill can only be introduced in Vidhan Sabha, in bicameral jurisdictions, after it is passed in the Vidhan Sabha, it is sent to the Vidhan Parishad, where it can be kept for a maximum time of 14 days. Unless by the Finance Minister of the state in the name of the Governor of that state, in matters related to ordinary bills, the will of Legislative Assembly prevails and there is no provision of joint sitting. In such cases, Legislative council can delay the legislation by maximum 4 months
15.
East Kolkata
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East Kolkata refers to the eastern areas of the city of Kolkata, India. The northern part of East Kolkata is dominated by the townships of Salt Lake City, the region is characterized by salt lakes and well planned residential blocks. This part of the city is divided into blocks and houses most of the attractions in the region. The main road transport artery is the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass which runs from end of the city to Garia in the south. The Metro Railway runs through the part of East Kolkata with stations at Baishnabghata-Patuli. East Kolkata has five major townships which constitute the bulk of the region, around 1.2 Lakh people are employed in Sector V, Salt Lake City. The area is administered by Naba Diganta Industrial Township Authority
16.
Garia
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Garia is a neighbourhood in south Kolkata, India and home to Netaji Subhash Engineering College. It is bounded by Jadavpur to the north, Bansdroni/Tollygunge to the north-west, Santoshpur to the north-east, Narendrapur/Sonarpur to the south, the southern part of the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass runs through the heart of the region. Garia is one of the oldest settlements around the region, and is located on the Tollys Nullah connecting Kolkata to the Vidhyadhari River to the east and it was primarily a peaceful residential neighbourhood before. The partition of India changed the fabric of the area. Overnight refugees came and settled down in the lands and country houses of the rich landowners of Kolkata in Garia. Garia became another refugee settlement along with Jadavpur and Tollygunge in the fringes of the city. Slowly, after the initial upheaval, development of the area started, but again another change was coming to the region. With the expansion of Kolkata to the east and the south during the 1990s, Garia was the southern end of the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass, the next Chowringhee of Kolkata. Already home to two bus terminus, Garia became the transport and commercial hub for the region. First settlements were on the north of the point of N. S. C. Bose road, Garia main road & Raja Subodh Chandra Mullick road. This locality is now home to some of the finest upcoming apartment complexes in the city, Hiland Park, Avanis Victoria Greens, Westwind, Orbit City, Sugam Park, Sherwood Estate and Bengal Ambujas Upohar are the most famous apartment complexes in Garia. Metro railway has added a new feather in terms of communication which connects Central & North Kolkata to save time & have a comfortable journey, New Garia is a fast-growing neighbourhood in the eastern part of Garia. The terminal metro station of Kolkata metro in the south is located here, chak Garia, also known as Chakgaria, is a posh neighbourhood in the eastern part of Garia. It is dotted with highrises like Hiland Park and Bengal Ambuja Upohar, baishnabghata-Patuli Township is a township located in the northern part of Garia. Baishnabghata-Patuli Township is a World Bank–funded project on the EM Bypass, currently, it is one of the most promising parts of south Kolkata. Mahamayatala is a known place in Garia. Even one of the most renowned posh localities in Garia, there are many residential apartments or complex, diagnostic centers, shops, bars etc. all required stuffs for living. Mahamayatala is known for its famous Maa Mahamaya Temple and this is a residential place between Mahamayatala and Hindustan More
17.
Jadavpur
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Jadavpur is a southern neighbourhood of Kolkata, India. Jadavpur is one of the important juncture in south Kolkata and it is bounded by Dhakuria to the north, Tollygunge to the west, Santoshpur to the east and Garia to the south. The Jadavpur market area is often referred to as the 8B area. It is the centre of Jadavpur downtown, right across from Jadavpur University, to accommodate the sudden increase in population, a large number of colonies emerged within the Calcutta Corporation area itself. One of the areas of concentration of the colonies was the southeast portion of the CMD in the Jadavpur, Tollygunj, Kasba. Jadavpur has tropical climate much like Kolkata though the rainfall is heavier as the southern parts gets higher rainfall than the main city. The area gets flooded during the monsoonal rain from June to October. The average maximum temperature is around 30 degree Celsius. The South-eastern side of Jadavpur is connected to Santoshpur by the Santoshpur Flyover Bridge, Jadavpur is one of the busiest local train stations on the Sealdah line. Jadavpur also has a number of buses servicing the area, some of which utilize the near proximity of the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass. The jadavpur 8B area has become a very popular shopping destination. This area is poised to become one of the most popular destination for shopping in south Kolkata along with the gariahat area, also available are sea water fishes like Pomfret and Mackerel. Vendors also offer chickens and geese, those chosen are slaughtered on the spot and it boasts of a large farmers market, serviced by the rail line. Sukanta setu market is another busy situated in this area and it is mainly starts in morning and closes within couple of hours. The morning rush of vendors and buyers often creates traffic jam in this area, Jadavpur has many air-conditioned restaurants and pastry outlets that cater to the local residents as well as to the students of Jadavpur University. College Street Coffee House has also their branch near Jadavpur market, Jadavpur is also green by Kolkatas standards, and boasts quite a few playgrounds. About five minutes walk from the Jadavpur market is Pal Bazar, recently, South City mall, said to be the biggest shopping parlor of its type in eastern India, has been opened at Prince Anwar Shah Road. It has definitely added some more value to the residents of this region, Jadavpur is generally considered to be a quite desirable place to live in. However, two problems are high traffic and congestion
18.
New Garia
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New Garia is a neighbourhood located in Garia, Kolkata, India. It is bounded by Eastern Metropolitan Bypass to the north, Patuli to the west, Garia Railway Station to the south, the easiest & shortest Kolkata metro rail stretch is Kavi Subhash to Satyajit Ray film institute, which is less than 2 km. Even this simple Metro extension is purposely undone since 2011, New garia is a very backward, mosquito infested place, a deadly dengue prone area. No progress in the New Garia locality is foreseen without immediate Metro rail connectivity with E. M bypass Easiest &shortest Kolkata metro rail stretch is 5 km, even this simple extension is purposely undone since 2011. New garia is a backward, mosquito infested place, a deadly dengue prone area. No progress in the locality is foreseen without immediate Metro rail connectivity, New Garia is home to two major bus termini and is connected by all varieties of bus services to all parts of the city. New Garia is served by the New Garia Halt Railway Station on the Sealdah South section, metropolis Mall with INOX, Big Bazaar, Food Court, Bar Lounge located near Hiland Park is a shoppers paradise and food-lovers delight. Ambuja Upohar is also a big residential complex close to Garia Metro station. com
19.
Baishnabghata Patuli Township
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Baishnabghata Patuli is a township located in the southern part of east Kolkata in West Bengal, India. It constitutes a portion of Garia. Baishnaghata Patuli Township is a World Bank–funded project on the fringes of EM Bypass. Small sweet shops like Nnoni, Giriraj, Palace of Sweets, Madhumalancha, besides there is a cafeteria opposite the State Bank ATM called Muzik Cafe which is a rather good proxy for Coffee House. A Mio Amore outlet is located just beside the State Bank ATM which is a high functioning food shop. There is a park juxtaposed to Ashabari Housing Complex called Satyajit Ray Park where wedding, cultural or any type of social ceremonies can be held
20.
E.M. Bypass
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The Eastern Metropolitan Bypass, or simply E. M. Bypass, is a major road on the east side of Kolkata that connects Bidhannagar on the northeast to southern parts of Kolkata. It was designed like a bypass or beltway on the side of Kolkata to lessen the perennial traffic congestion on the entire stretch of Gariahat Road. Subsequent to the construction of road, several connectors have been built to connect Gariahat Road to the EM Bypass to deviate traffic away from the Gariahat Road. This, along with moving significant parts of public and private offices to Bidhannagar is deemed necessary to maintain the growth of Kolkata. Plans are currently underway to extend the road to the Falta Export Processing Zone at Falta on the Hooghly River, a number of connectors or connecting roads link the bypass to major hubs of the city all along its route. From north to south, these are Maniktala connector connecting Maniktala market Beleghata connector connecting Sealdah railway station J B S Haldane Avenue connecting the Park Circus area, the former can be taken to commute to Howrah, which is a prime transport hub of the metropolis. The connector meets the bypass at a junction where a major landmark, the latter connects to Gariahat, a prime market and shopping area of the city. It meets the bypass at the Ruby Hospital, landmarks and institutions like these dot both the sides of the bypass, and have become the sign of the newly resurgent Kolkata economy. The Gateway Hotels & Resorts is on the Bypass, the Acropolis mall cum commercial building is coming up on this major connector. The Ruby crossing is known as the New Dalhousie of kolkata. Some prominent flyovers facilitate quicker flow of traffic along the bypass, one is Chingrighata flyover connecting Salt Lake, Sector V and Rajarhat. In January 2011, the Ultadanga flyover connecting VIP road was opened for public and this flyover bypasses the traffic-dense Ultadanga crossing for a quicker access to the airport from south through VIP Road. The Bypass is undergoing an expansion, under the JnNURM. The road, presently with four lanes, is being expanded to eight lanes of traffic, of which four are to be reservlaces. Moreover, there are concerns regarding the drainage and this, added with the construction of the overhead Metro Railway lines and a number of flyovers has taken its toll on the road, which is even more evident during monsoon. However, repairs work is done in parts, although service roads and this poses problems for commuters, often causing traffic snarls. A long flyover is being constructed near Parama Island which will run along the Park Circus Connector, however, the flyover will virtually help in making a seamless, no signal traffic corridor from EM Bypass to Alipore. The flyover is stated to be connected with the existing AJC Bose Road Flyover, construction of another connector from Padmapukur, Baruipur to Kamalgazi, Rajpur Sonarpur is in full swing. E. M Bypass has seen a real estate surge and is one of the most sought after areas in Kolkata
21.
Kolkata Metro
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The network currently consists of one operational line of 27.22 km from Noapara to Kavi Subhash with five other lines in various phases of construction. The Kolkata Metro was the first metro railway in India, opening for services from 1984. On 29 December 2010, Metro Railway, Kolkata became the 17th zone of the Indian Railways, there are 300 metro services daily carrying over 650,000 passengers making it the second busiest metro system in India. After independence in 1947, the problem of Kolkata drew the attention of city planners. It was soon realized something had to be done quickly in order to cope with the situation. Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, the then Chief Minister of West Bengal, first conceived in 1949, a survey was done by a team of French experts, but nothing concrete came of this. With a view to finding solutions to alleviate the suffering of commuters. The MTP, with help of Soviet specialists and East German engineers, prepared a plan to provide five rapid-transit lines for the city of Kolkata. However, only three were selected for construction.45 km, and the work on this project was sanctioned on 1 June 1972. The foundation stone of the project was laid by Indira Gandhi, the Prime Minister of India, on 29 December 1972, B. A. Ghani Khan Choudhury - often against the prevailing socio-political stance of his contemporaries in the West Bengal government. The first metro was driven by Tapan Kumar Nath and Sanjoy Sil, the service was quickly followed by commuter services on another 2.15 km stretch in the north between Dum Dum and Belgachhia on 12 November 1984. The commuter service was extended up to Tollygunge on 29 April 1986 covering a distance of 4.24 km making the service available over a distance of 9.79 km. However, the services on the section were suspended with effect from 26 October 1992. After a gap of more than eight years, the 1.62 km Belgachhia-Shyambazaar section, another 0.71 km stretch from Esplanade to Chandni Chowk was commissioned shortly afterwards, on 2 October 1994. The Shyambazaar-Shobhabazar-Girish Park and Chandni Chowk-Central sections were opened on 19 February 1995, services on the entire stretch of the Metro were introduced from 27 September 1995 by bridging the vital gap of 1.80 km in the middle. The latest extension constructed was the 2.59 km elevated corridor from Dum Dum to Noapara on 10 July 2013, the state government has also prepared a detailed project report on a proposed extension of East West Metro from Howrah Maidan to Santragachhi. Rites, the agency for the 10 km East-West Metro extension project from Howrah Maidan to Santragachhi bus terminus, is set to start work on the corridor early in 2017. In 2010, the Railway Ministry announced plans for the construction of five new metro lines, commuters of Line 1 will be able to interchange trains going towards the Airport via Line 4
22.
Sealdah railway station
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Sealdah railway station is one of the major railway stations serving Kolkata in India, the others being Howrah Station, Shalimar Station, Santragachi Junction and Kolkata Railway Station. Sealdah is one of the busiest railway stations in India and an important suburban rail terminal, after completion, Kolkata Metro Line 2 will pass through Sealdah. Sealdah Railway station was started in 1869, before 1978, there was a tram terminus at Sealdah station. Trams departed from here towards Rajabazar, Howrah Station, High Court, Dalhousie Square, Park Circus, the first horse tram service of Kolkata was also started from Sealdah to Armenian Ghat, following the currently route 13,14 &16 between Lebutala & Dalhousie Square. The Sealdah-Lebutala & Dalhousie Square-Armenian Ghat stretch is now closed and that terminus was demolished in 1978 also with the Sealdah-Lebutala tram track stretched through Boubazar Street for construction of the Sealdah flyover. Now tram services between Rajabazar-Esplanade, Parkcircus-Burrabazar and other services pass through Sealdah, currently, a car parking exists in place of the old tram terminus. There are three terminals at Sealdah, Sealdah North, Sealdah Main and Sealdah South. The North section consists of Sealdah North and Sealdah Main buildings and it has 13 platforms numbering 1 to 4, 4A, and 5 to 9C, 9A & 9B. The South section consists of Sealdah South terminal, with 7 platforms, the north and south sections have separate set of emerging tracks. The north and south section is connected by two links, one is Dumdum-Majherhat link, and other is Bidhannagar-Parkcircus link and these two links were constructed to quickly travel between the two sections avoiding Sealdah. For the financial department, There are DRMs, Sr. DFMs and ADFMs to look over. Sealdah North acts as the train terminal for 2 divisions, the main division. The main division of Sealdah north operates trains plying between Kolkata and Bandel, Gede, Ranaghat, Shantipur, Krishnanagar, Baharampur, Lalgola, Dankuni, Kalyani, Kalyani Simanta and others. A narrow gauge line earlier used to connect Shantipur and Krishnanagar and this line continues to Nabadwip Ghat. These narrow gauge lines are served by DMU trains, There is a plan to extend the suburban train service from Krishnanagar to Plassey, which is currently served by electric loco hauled trains. Dankuni line connects Eastern Railways Howrah line at Bali and Dankuni, Bandel line connects Eastern Railways Howrah line at Bandel. The Bongaon division handles trains for Kolkata Airport, Bangaon, Hasnabad, Bangaon and Ranaghat are also connected. Sealdah Main is the terminal for long distance trains to northern, north-western, north-eastern & eastern India, through Dankuni line. Krishnanagar line is also serving long distance intrastate trains, the South section, consisting of Sealdah South terminal, acts as the terminal for local trains plying between Kolkata and Diamond Harbour-Budgebudge, Canning, and Namkhana
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Calcutta Tramways Company
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The Calcutta Tramways Company Limited is a West Bengal, India, government-run company which runs trams in Kolkata and buses in and around Kolkata. The Kolkata tram is the oldest operating electric tram in Asia, running since 1902,1873, An attempt was made to run a 2. 4-mile tramway service between Sealdah and Armenian Ghat Street on 24 February. The service was not adequately patronised, and was discontinued on 20 Nov.1880, Ltd was formed and registered in London on 22 December. Metre-gauge horse-drawn tram tracks were laid from Sealdah to Armenian Ghat via Bowbazar Street, Dalhousie Square, the route was inaugurated by the Viceroy, Lord Ripon, on 1 November. *1882, Steam locomotives were deployed experimentally to haul tram cars, by the end of the nineteenth century the company owned 166 tram cars,1000 horses, seven steam locomotives and 19 miles of tram tracks. 1900, Electrification of the tramway, and reconstruction of tracks to 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in was begun,1902, The first electric tramcar in Asia ran from Esplanade to Kidderpore on 27 March, and on 14 June from Esplanade to Kalighat. 1903, The Kalighat line was extended to Tollygunge, the Esplanade line to Belgachia,1904, Esplanade to Bagbazar route through College Street opened. 1905, Howrah Station to Bandhaghat route was opened to trams in June,1906, Bowbazar Junction to Binay Badal Dinesh Bag, Ahiritola Junction to Hatibagan Junction routes opened. 1908, Lines to Shibpur via G. T, Esplanade to Sealdah station via Moula Ali Junction, Moula Ali Junction to Nonapukur, Wattganj Junction to Jatin Das Park Junction, Mominpur Junction to Behala routes opened. 1910, Sealdah Station to Rajabazar route opened,1915, Mirzapur Junction to Bowbazar Junction and Sealdah Station to Lebutala Junction routes opened. 1920, Strand Road Junction to High Court route opened,1923, S. C. Mallik Square Junction to Park Circus route opened. 1928, Kalighat to Ballygunge route opened,1930, Park Circus line extended to Garhiahat Junction. 1941, Rajabazar line extended to Galiff Street,1943, The Calcutta system was well connected with the Howrah section through the new Howrah Bridge in February. With this extension, the track length reached 42.0 miles. 1951, The government of West Bengal entered into an agreement with the Calcutta Tramways Company, the government assumed all rights regarding the Tramways, and reserved the right to purchase the system on 1 January 1972 or any time thereafter. 1967, The Government of West Bengal passed the Calcutta Tramways Company Act, on 8 November 1976 the Calcutta Tramways ordinance was promulgated, under which the company united with the government. 1970, The Howrah sections were closed in October, the 1971/1973 Nimtala route was closed down in May 1973, total track length was now reduced to 38 miles. 1980, Tram tracks on Bentinck Street and Ashutosh Mukhopadhyay Road closed for construction of the Kolkata metro, following construction, overhead wires were present until 1994 on Bentinck Street
24.
Howrah Junction railway station
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Howrah Junction railway station is the largest railway complex in India with maximum number of platforms in the entire railway system of India,23 platforms. It is one of the four intercity railway stations serving the city of Kolkata, the terminal station is located on the west bank of the Hooghly River, linked to Kolkata by Howrah Bridge. With 23 platforms, it has the highest train-handling capacity of any station in India. Total 293 passenger trains Start/End/PassThrough Howrah railway station, total 1220 Stations are directly connected to Howrah railway station via these 293 passenger trains. Initial plans for the first Howrah railway station were submitted by George Turnbull the Chief Engineer of the East Indian Railway Company on 17 June 1851, in May 1852, the detailed station plans were the major work of him and his team of engineers. In October four tenders for building the station were received varying from 190,000 to 274,526 INR against an estimate of 250,000 INR, due to a great increase of traffic, a new station building was proposed in 1901. The new station was designed by the British architect Halsey Ricardo and it was brought into service on 1 December 1905. This building is the current Howrah station building, the station had 15 platform tracks. It was expanded in the 1980s with the addition of 8 platform tracks in an area to the south of the station previously had a parcels terminal. At the same time a new Yatri Niwas was built south of the head house. There are currently 23 platforms in Howrah Station, platforms 1-15 are located in the old complex also referred to as Terminal-1, while 17-23 are in the new complex. Terminal-1 serves the local and long-distance trains of Eastern Railway as well as trains of South Eastern Railway. Terminal-2 serves the long trains of South Eastern Railway. A narrow gauge line connects Bardhaman and Katwa and is served by DMU trains. There is a plan to extend the train service from Bardhaman to Mankar and Guskara, by electrifying the Khana–Guskara existing stretch. The Bardhaman–Mankar stretch is now served by electric loco hauled trains, the South Eastern Railway serves local trains to Amta, Mecheda, Panskura, Haldia, Tamluk, Haldia, Kanthi, Medinipur and Kharagpur, and mail/express trains to Central, West and South India. The Tamluk–Kanthi stretch is currently electrified and now EMU runs up to Digha, there is a plan to extend the suburban train service from Kharagpur to Jhargram, Hijli, Belda and Narayangarh. Both stretches are now served by electric loco hauled trains, trains from this station serve the Kolkata urban area via the Kolkata suburban railway, the state of West Bengal, and most major cities of India
25.
B. B. D. Bagh
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Bagh, formerly called Dalhousie Square, is the shortened version for Benoy-Badal-Dinesh Bagh. It is the seat of power of the government, as well as the central business district in Kolkata in the Indian state of West Bengal. Stands for three young Indian independence freedom fighters — Benoy, Badal and Dinesh — who on 8 December 1930 shot dead the Inspector General of Prisons, simpson, in the balconies of the Writers Building of the then Dalhousie Square. The square had been named after Lord Dalhousie, Governor General of India from 1847 to 1856, at different times it has been called ‘The Green before the Fort’ or Tank Square. Bagh area is near the Hooghly River in the part of central Kolkata and is a square built around the old Lal Dighi tank. The old fort built by the British was near where the General Post Office now is, the area was in the heart of Kalikata or the White Town in old Calcutta. Bagh was created as the center of the British East India Companys trading post along the banks of the Hooghly River, between the river and the tank, lay the original Fort William. In the summer of 1756, Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah of Bengal, Bihar, the survivors of the attack were sent to a garrison within the fort which spurred an incident infamously known as the Black Hole of Calcutta. The British soon retook the city after the Nawab retreated from the forces of Robert Clive, within a year, the British East India Companys forces had taken all of Bengal and Calcutta, along with the square, was established as the commercial and political center of British India. Over the next one and a half centuries, the square grew in importance and influence and it was named after Lord Dalhousie, the Governor-General of India. After the fall of company rule in India, the Writers Building became the secretariat of the Viceroy of India, a number of corporations and institutions opened offices and headquarters in and around the square, giving it its role as the central business district of the city. In 1912, the capital of British India was officially moved to New Delhi, during the first half of the 20th century, the Indian Independence Movement began to reach its peak and took a violent turn in Bengal. On the eighth of December 1930, three revolutionaries, Benoy, Badal, and Dinesh, stormed the building and fatally shot the Inspector General of Prisons, the three committed suicide and the square was renamed B. B. D. Bagh in their honor after Indian independence, in 1947, the political establishments were officially handed over to the government of India and the government of the newly formed state of West Bengal. Over the next few decades, Calcutta would go through rapid economic decline, Bagh would remain the heart of East India. Bagh is still the commercial and political center of all of East India and many of the business, the centerpiece is the Writers Building which is the secretariat of the Government of the State of West Bengal and houses the office of the Chief Minister of West Bengal. The native name of the area is Office Para, to the north lie the Royal Exchange Building which houses the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Calcutta Stock Exchange, the Standard Chartered Building, and many financial establishments. The eastern end also houses a number of offices till Chittaranjan Avenue, the area south of the square is home to the Raj Bhavan, which is now the residence of the governor and the former residence of the viceroy and governor-general of India
26.
South Bengal State Transport Corporation
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South Bengal State Transport Corporation is a West Bengal state government undertaken transport corporation. It plys buses in South Bengal and other parts of West Bengal to Durgapur, SBSTC owns many depots in West Bengal to station their buses. By providing link between Jharkhand and West Bengal, it is the backbone of many people residing in the areas between these two states. Also it connects many cities in West Bengal, particularly connecting major cities like Asansol, Durgapur, Bardhaman, Kolkata, Purulia, Bankura, initially, it started with only 8 buses operated inside the township covering a total route length of 65 km. In 1964-65, the strength increased to 25 with and total operating route length increased to 102 km. In 1965-66, the strength is increased to 62 and route length became 428 km. On 15 August 1967, it was renamed to Durgapur State Transport Board, in 1972-73, Durgapur-Siliguri bus service was introduced with 3 new town services and the total route length of long distance and town services went up to 1650 km and 143 km respectively. In 1973, DSTB was ultimately converted into public sector undertaking under the name and style of Durgapur State Transport Corporation, DSTC got its present name in 1988 with an objective of increasing its service to the entire south Bengal. The Corporation has a system of management which is, Depot, Division. The entire operational network of the Corporation is carried out through its two Divisional headquarters – one located at Durgapur and other at Belghoria, at the Corporate level, the Deputy Managing Director, Chief Accounts Officers and HODs of other discipline assist the Managing Director. Administrative Officer and other officers for administration, Dy. Chief Accounts Officer for accounts matter, the Divisional Managers are directly reporting to the Managing Director. The Depot Manager or Depot In-charge directly reports to the Divisional Manager, at the present, SBSTC operates road transport services from its two Divisional Offices - one at Durgapur and other at Belghoria. Corporation services link West Bengal with Bhutan and reach the border of Assam and this Corporation has operations in the inter-State routes like the present link with state of Jharkhand. Some inter-state routes on which the Corporation runs buses are Durgapur to Tata via Bankura and Purulia, the Corporation has planned to contact some more areas in more States in the near future. SBSTC provides its services through two divisions, namely Durgapur and Belghoria and it has a total fifteen depots, four bus terminus, two bus counter and one bus stand. B. S. T. C
27.
Bagbazar
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Bagbazar is a neighbourhood in north Kolkata, in the Indian state of West Bengal. The area, under Shyampukur police station of Kolkata Police, has been, along with neighbouring Shyambazar, Bagbazar has played an active role in growth and development of Kolkata. The name, Bagbazar, is derived from two words put together from old Bengali literature, bagh meaning garden and bazaar meaning market. So it refers to a place where flowers are abundant, as Kalikata became settled, Sutanuti was gradually abandoned by the English as a place of residence. However, it was frequented from around 1746 and by 1752 was sold for Rs.25,000. Captain Perin was owner of several ships, scott began manufacturing gunpowder at the garden. We can divide this glorious history in two very distinguished parts, the first period is from 1919 to 1930 and 1930 onwards and this was the first Puja of Calcutta organised by people communally and not inside a Zamindar home. Members of the Public contributed money and continued the Puja and it was named as Lebubagan Baroyari Durga-puja and it was continued in that very place for more three more years before being shifted in 1924 to the junction of Bagbazar Street and Pashupati Bose Lane. Next year it was placed at Kantapukur and in 1927 it tookplace in the Bagbazar Kali-temple and he is also the person who gave the name of the organization and set up the structure for a communal durga puja which was emulated by hundreds of other groups around the city thereafter. In 1929 for the occasion of the puja an exhibition took place, for the required space to organize the exhibition he selected this very place where the Durganagar of today is situated. This place was known as Metal-Yard formerly, and it used to the storage of Calcutta Corporations road-repair department, durgacharan Bandyopadhyay requested the Mayor of Calcutta Netaji Subhash Ch. Bose then to requested the Mayor of Calcutta Netaji Subhash Ch. Bose then for the due permission. Mr. Bose approved his request and agreed for a joint exhibition with the participation of Corporation. He also donated five hundred rupees to this organization, from 1930 itself the inaugural and closing ceremony of the occasion over here is a very integral and important part and an innumerable fellow persona had their presence in these occasion. The inauguration takes place on the shukla-panchami of the month of Ashwina whereas the closing ceremony takes place on the day of the sublimation of Goddess Laxmi. Basu, Netaji Subhash Ch. Bose, Acharya Prafulla Ch. Roy, Sir Harishankar Pal, in 1938-1939 this organization was privileged by the active participation of Netaji Subhash Ch Bose as the president. Patriot Pulin Das the renowned member of Anusulan Samity used to be present in the occasion of Birastami until when he was unable to join it. From the late 1990s the organization tried to move the higher authority for converting the yard to a permanent park under the control of this organization. We are hopeful to have all the charge of this park soon and this street is one of the most old and famous streets of Bagbazar, where the main Bagbazar Post Office is also located
28.
Wayback Machine
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The Internet Archive launched the Wayback Machine in October 2001. It was set up by Brewster Kahle and Bruce Gilliat, and is maintained with content from Alexa Internet, the service enables users to see archived versions of web pages across time, which the archive calls a three dimensional index. Since 1996, the Wayback Machine has been archiving cached pages of websites onto its large cluster of Linux nodes and it revisits sites every few weeks or months and archives a new version. Sites can also be captured on the fly by visitors who enter the sites URL into a search box, the intent is to capture and archive content that otherwise would be lost whenever a site is changed or closed down. The overall vision of the machines creators is to archive the entire Internet, the name Wayback Machine was chosen as a reference to the WABAC machine, a time-traveling device used by the characters Mr. Peabody and Sherman in The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, an animated cartoon. These crawlers also respect the robots exclusion standard for websites whose owners opt for them not to appear in search results or be cached, to overcome inconsistencies in partially cached websites, Archive-It. Information had been kept on digital tape for five years, with Kahle occasionally allowing researchers, when the archive reached its fifth anniversary, it was unveiled and opened to the public in a ceremony at the University of California, Berkeley. Snapshots usually become more than six months after they are archived or, in some cases, even later. The frequency of snapshots is variable, so not all tracked website updates are recorded, Sometimes there are intervals of several weeks or years between snapshots. After August 2008 sites had to be listed on the Open Directory in order to be included. As of 2009, the Wayback Machine contained approximately three petabytes of data and was growing at a rate of 100 terabytes each month, the growth rate reported in 2003 was 12 terabytes/month, the data is stored on PetaBox rack systems manufactured by Capricorn Technologies. In 2009, the Internet Archive migrated its customized storage architecture to Sun Open Storage, in 2011 a new, improved version of the Wayback Machine, with an updated interface and fresher index of archived content, was made available for public testing. The index driving the classic Wayback Machine only has a bit of material past 2008. In January 2013, the company announced a ground-breaking milestone of 240 billion URLs, in October 2013, the company announced the Save a Page feature which allows any Internet user to archive the contents of a URL. This became a threat of abuse by the service for hosting malicious binaries, as of December 2014, the Wayback Machine contained almost nine petabytes of data and was growing at a rate of about 20 terabytes each week. Between October 2013 and March 2015 the websites global Alexa rank changed from 162 to 208, in a 2009 case, Netbula, LLC v. Chordiant Software Inc. defendant Chordiant filed a motion to compel Netbula to disable the robots. Netbula objected to the motion on the ground that defendants were asking to alter Netbulas website, in an October 2004 case, Telewizja Polska USA, Inc. v. Echostar Satellite, No.02 C3293,65 Fed. 673, a litigant attempted to use the Wayback Machine archives as a source of admissible evidence, Telewizja Polska is the provider of TVP Polonia and EchoStar operates the Dish Network
29.
Naktala
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Naktala is a neighbourhood in South Kolkata, under the Kolkata Municipal Corporation in West Bengal, India. It is bounded by Ganguly Bagan to the north, Bansdroni to the west, Garia Crossing to the south and it has evolved with time from a sleepy to a bustling neighbourhood, burgeoned and prospered with the arrival of people from all over, mainly East Bengal after independence. The name is supposed to have originated from Nagtala according to one source, Naktala is an upmarket suburban area of Kolkata in the southern part of the city, in the vicinity of Tollygunge and Garia. The Netaji Subash Chandra Bose Road connecting these two places, divides Naktala into two, Naktala is connected by road and metro railway to the other parts of Kolkata. Many buses ply on the main Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Road, Naktala is close to Dhakuria, Jadavpur, Garia, Purba Putiary, Panchasayar, Tollygunge, Kasba. Naktala is rich in schools, with mostly in Garia, Netaji Nagar. Abdur Razzak, Bangladeshi actor The Shiva Temple, on the main NSC Bose Road, the Shitala Temple, Yogomaya Kali Mandir, durga puja is celebrated at Naktala with great pomp. Other festivals include the Old Rath Jatra fair at Rathtala and local fairs round the year, Naktala has several nursing homes and hospitals. The hallmark is the season, from early June to mid September. The weather remains dry during the winter and humid during summer, Kolkata Metro Railway Routes Naktala at Google Maps Naktala at mapsofindia. com Official site of KMC Urban Rail
30.
South Kolkata
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Kolkata /koʊlˈkɑːtɑː/ is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. In 2011, the city had a population of 4.5 million, while the population of the city and its suburbs was 14.1 million, making it the third-most populous metropolitan area in India. Recent estimates of Kolkata Metropolitan Areas economy have ranged from $60 to $150 billion making it third most-productive metropolitan area in India, after Mumbai, in the late 17th century, the three villages that predated Calcutta were ruled by the Nawab of Bengal under Mughal suzerainty. After the Nawab granted the East India Company a trading licence in 1690, Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah occupied Calcutta in 1756, and the East India Company retook it the following year. In 1793 the East India company was enough to abolish Nizamat. Calcutta was the centre for the Indian independence movement, it remains a hotbed of contemporary state politics, following Indian independence in 1947, Kolkata, which was once the centre of modern Indian education, science, culture, and politics, suffered several decades of economic stagnation. Many people from Kolkata—among them several Nobel laureates—have contributed to the arts, the sciences, Kolkata culture features idiosyncrasies that include distinctively close-knit neighbourhoods and freestyle intellectual exchanges. Though home to major cricketing venues and franchises, Kolkata differs from other Indian cities by giving importance to association football, there are several explanations about the etymology of this name, The term Kolikata is thought to be a variation of Kalikkhetrô, meaning Field of Kali. Similarly, it can be a variation of Kalikshetra, alternatively, the name may have been derived from the Bengali term kilkila, or flat area. The name may have its origin in the words khal meaning canal, followed by kaṭa, according to another theory, the area specialised in the production of quicklime or koli chun and coir or kata, hence, it was called Kolikata. The discovery and archaeological study of Chandraketugarh,35 kilometres north of Kolkata, Kolkatas recorded history began in 1690 with the arrival of the English East India Company, which was consolidating its trade business in Bengal. The area occupied by the city encompassed three villages, Kalikata, Gobindapur, and Sutanuti. Kalikata was a village, Sutanuti was a riverside weavers village. They were part of an estate belonging to the Mughal emperor and these rights were transferred to the East India Company in 1698. In 1712, the British completed the construction of Fort William, facing frequent skirmishes with French forces, the British began to upgrade their fortifications in 1756. The Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud-Daulah, condemned the militarisation and his warning went unheeded, and the Nawab attacked, he captured Fort William which led to the killings of several East India company officials in the Black Hole of Calcutta. A force of Company soldiers and British troops led by Robert Clive recaptured the city the following year, declared a presidency city, Calcutta became the headquarters of the East India Company by 1772. In 1793, ruling power of the Nawabs were abolished and East India company took control of the city
31.
Alipore
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Alipore is the headquarters of South 24 Parganas district and a neighbourhood in South Kolkata in the Indian state of West Bengal. The area is the most posh and costliest locality in Kolkata, the postal code of Alipore is Kolkata 700027. One of the most historical, eventful and elite localities of the city of Kolkata and it was in the middle parts of the 18th century that the British began exploring the areas outside their settlements of Fort William and the Dalhousie Square area beyond the Race Course. The Belvedere Estate was one of the oldest establishments in Alipore, the then Governor General Warren Hastings built it for himself and it became the Governors residence until the Government House came up later. It was about this period of time that Alipore started attracting more and more British settlers who built their mansions and bungalows with gardens. In 1820, William Carey built the Agri Horticultural Gardens behind the Belvedere Estate, also, the Alipore Zoological Gardens was thrown open to the public in 1875. The locality was also witness to the Alipore bomb case and a spectator to the struggle of the Indian revolutionaries. Post independence of India, Alipore became popular among the elite of the city. The Pauls, the Birlas, the Goenkas, the Dalmiyas, the Jalans, the Kotharis, in 1952, the Imperial Library shifted to its present premises on Belvedere Estate. The Alipore Mint was also inaugurated the same year, several consulates like those of Russia, Germany, France, Italy and residences of Hon. Consul General of Canada, Denmark, Greece, Peru, etc. are located in Alipore, by the late eighties and nineties other places like New Alipore and Ballygunge competed with Alipore as the most elite areas of Kolkata. Alipore is located at 22. 53°N88. 33°E /22.53,88.33 and it has an average elevation of 14 metres. Alipore area is bordered by the following roads - AJC Bose Road to the north, D L Khan Road to the East, Diamond Harbour Road to the West, Alipore is connected to all parts of the city by extensive bus services. Alipore is served by the Majherhat and New Alipore railway stations on the Budge Budge section of Kolkata Suburban Railway, the Kalighat metro station of the Kolkata Metro as well as the Jatin Das Park station is close to Alipore. Some of the best healthcare options in the city are located in Alipore Woodlands Multispeciality Hospital, Alipore Road CMRI, Diamond Harbour Road B. M
32.
Bhowanipore
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Bhowanipore or Bhabanipur is the oldest locality of South Kolkata. It is located just south of the Lower Circular Road. It is the second largest locality in South Kolkata after Ballygunge, Bhowanipore is perhaps the first posh south Kolkata neighbourhood. In the early 19th century, it was just a village on the southern outskirts of the city of Calcutta. By the early 1850s it developed into a home to many immigrants into the city from the countryside of East Bengal. These immigrants were literate and prosperous and just wanted to settle outside the more famous localities of northern Kolkata. The Lower Circular Road had just been constructed and the area just south of the road home to many Indians who wanted to live in proximity to the city. Many Englishmen also took fancy to the area and they began settling in the area. Initially the locality was bounded by Lansdowne Road to the east, Russa Road to the west, but it expanded much more to the west, far beyond Harish Mukherjee Road to the Tolly Nullah. The Jadu Babus Bazaar on Asutosh Mukherjee Road was the heart of south Kolkata before Gariahat even developed and it is still the major market for the locality. Bhowanipore was also known as the hall area of the city. Number of cinema halls like Purna, Indira, Bijoli, etc. screened Bengali, many of the halls are now closed down due to lack of patronage. Since the start of the 20th century, the area home to a large number of immigrants from other parts of India. Sikhs, Gujaratis and Tamils now form a population of the locality. Bhowanipore has also has its share of 21st century commercialization sweeping Kolkata and it is home to Kolkatas first mall-cum-multiplex - The Forum mall on Elgin Road with its Inox multiplex. Many big companies have their office in Bhowanipore, like Exide Industries Limited, Tata Tea Limited. The head office of Automobile Association Of Eastern India is also located in this area, a club in the name of Bhowanipore Club founded by one Nani Mitra stands at the entrance of the Maidan near the Rani Rashmani Statue and presently managed by the Sangbad Pratidin group. The Kolkata Metro serves the area with the Rabindra Sadan, Netaji Bhavan, united Missionary Girls High School, Mukherjee Road. Mitra Institution, Harish Mukherjee Road St. Johns Diocesan Girls Higher Secondary School Hartleys High/Pvt, bijon Bhattacharya, eminent theater artist, director and famous Bengali play writer, also husband of eminent international award winning social worker and writer Smt. Mahasweta Devi
India
Kolkata/East travel guide from Wikivoyage