Kumartuli or Kumortuli is located in the northern part of the city of Kolkata . The locality is a traditional habitat of the potters for nearly three hundred years. The potters or the artisans or the artists settled here during the restructuring of the Kolkata colonial region by the British East India Company . Earning a livelihood by making earthen pots and utensils first they gradually shifted to the making of the idols of Gods and Goddesses for various festivals round the year. With increasing demand and quality of their creations over time the artisans became famous and Kumartuli came to be known as the hub of idol makers supplying thousands of idols, particularly of Goddess Durga , to whole of the state of West Bengal and to NRIs of around 90 countries across the globe. At least three months before Durga Puja , the biggest festival of West Bengal and one of the biggest across Eastern India, more than five hundred workshops come alive with hyper activity day and night. Fir...
Narendra Kumar Singh, a young officer of the elite Indian Police Service (IPS—2009 batch), was mowed down by trolley laden with stones in Morena district of Madhya Pradesh on Thursday. An honest and upright officer, Narendra Kumar was trying to stop the trolley, allegedly belonging to the mining mafia, for carrying stones illegally. He was posted as a sub-divisional police officer in that district just about two months ago. The area has been notorious for illegal mining activities and Narendra had been very active taking the initiative and conducting checks, seizures and arrests round the clock. Acting on a tip-off that day he along with his driver and security guard intercepted the trolley ordering it to stop. The vehicle did not stop and ran him over. He was rushed to the nearby hospital and was announced brought dead. A horrific price of honesty young Narendra had to pay. His distraught father while taking pride in his son’s crusade against criminals asked some very crucial question...