Packed programme awaits Maradona

KOLKATA, 5th December, 2008: The most famous yet controversial football player ever to visit Kolkata — Diego Maradona — will have to be contending with two days of programme that will take him crisscrossing the City and its neighbourhood.

The Argentine National coach will be arriving in the wee hours of Saturday. He will spend almost 48 hours in the City and attend a number of programmes including a visit to the Mother Teresa House on the second day.

The legendry footballer will open the tour with a visit to the south-western part of the City to lay the foundation stone of the Indian Football School. He will follow it up with a media conference at his hotel and later will go to the Salt Lake Stadium to witness a match and to accept a felicitation.
The second day’s programme will begin with a visit to Mother House and from there he will visit the former Chief Minister of West Bengal, Jyoti Basu, at the latter’s Salt Lake residence and wind up his outdoor activity by visiting the century-old National Club of India, Mohun Bagan.

His final function in the city will be to attend a charity dinner where a number of his memorabilia will be auctioned and the proceeds donated to the needy football players.

Despite Slowdown, IT Sector in Kolkata continues to grow

KOLKATA, 5th December,2008: In the wake of the withdrawal of Tatas from Singur and the global financial crisis, the mood in Kolkata was indeed somber, but the investments in the IT sector continued to flow in. On 10th September, 2008, DQ Entertainment, the biggest animation company in the country, opened its Kolkata Production Centre which was inaugurated by the Chief Minister.

Soon thereafter, the foundation stone of the tallest (41-storeyed) IT Park was laid by the Hon’ble Minister for IT Department in Haldia which is part of the State Government policy to take IT industry to other towns in the State for a more inclusive growth. On 5th October, 2008, the Hon'ble Chief Minister laid the foundation stone of Orion IT Park and SEZ at Rajarhat. The presence of the Hon'ble External Affairs Minister, Government of India, on this occasion along with His Excellency the Japanese Ambassador to India, underlines the focus on Japan in this Park which will also have a Japan Village to facilitate Indo-Japanese collaborations in the IT sector.

Thus, the growth in the IT sector in West Bengal continues unabated even in these uncertain times. With a view to further fuel the industrial growth in the State, a 500-acre SEZ near Siliguri has been announced by the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation Ltd. (WBIDC), which will have an exclusive IT Park. The ASSOCHAM survey has also focussed on Bengal as a hotspot for investments.

The other developments during this period highlight the direction IT industry is taking in the field of research and development, human resource development, cyber security, testing and benchmarking and enhancing efficiency. Thus, the industry is using this slowdown as an opportunity to innovate, improve quality and increase productivity. The increased number of mobile telephone connections in the City and the State, however, defy any hints of a slowdown.