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...
Around 9 o'clock in the morning of September2,2009 Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, a southern state of India, set out on a helicopter for an important engagement. He ignored the pouring rain and a very bad forecast. Even the usual helicopter was not available and he took another which later proved to be air unworthy--not serviced for last two years. But, his commitment to his people was the priority. The chopper vanished after about an hour and the Chief Minister with his two topmost officers and two pilots went missing. As the hours passed by without any success in finding the chopper the worst fears were in the minds of every countrymen. After twenty four hours, today the 3rd September, the missing chopper was spotted on a hilltop and soon after all five persons were confirmed dead. It was a crash caused most probably by bad weather and the doubtful chopper. Yeduguri Sandinti Rajasekhara Reddy , popularly known as YSR , was a dashing leader who brought back the Congress into po...