Howrah News Service - Latest news and headlines on Howrah,West Bengal and World

No child's play: A bank run by and for street children

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 10:37:00 -0400

The cashier counts the currency notes carefully, makes an entry in the passbook and hands it over to the waiting customer through a tiny window. But this is no ordinary bank - as both the cashier and consumer are actually street children.

Next winter, ghunghats will be back in new avatar

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 15:48:00 -0400

The old Hindu tradition of covering the head with a dupatta promises to be back in vogue. As a chic replacement of the ghunghat, Indian fashion designers have included ample hoods and cowl necks in their autumn-winter collections."Cowls and hoods are replacements of 'dupattas' and 'ghunghats' that Indian women wear on their heads," Sucheta V Merh said.

A Tribute : Arthur C. Clarke , The Final Odyssey

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:27:00 -0400

Arthur C. Clarke, a writer whose seamless blend of scientific expertise and poetic imagination helped usher in the space age, died early Wednesday in Colombo, Sri Lanka, where he had lived since 1956. Here is the tribute..

Indian Idol reignites Gorkhaland fire in Darjeeling

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 07:19:00 -0400

India's Darjeeling hills have come alive with fresh demands for a separate state within India for the Gorkha people, with protests threatening the area's renowned tea and tourism industries.

Hockey debacle: shock and despair grip India

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 11:24:00 -0400

A heartbroken hockey fraternity on Monday reacted in anger and demanded the ouster of Indian Hockey Federation President K P S Gill following the team's unprecedented failure to make the cut for the Beijing Olympics. India created a dubious history as they lost to England 2-0 to miss the bus for the quadrennial games for the first time in 80 years.

First woman engineer from Bengal

Sun, 09 Mar 2008 18:24:00 -0400

She was a backbencher in college, a bridge enthusiast and is now a television addict. She is also the first woman engineer in West Bengal. She studied mechanical engineering.

City gets fatter, courtesy malls

Sun, 09 Mar 2008 04:41:00 -0400

Kolkata is getting fatter and the signs are ominous. With shopping malls and multi-cuisine restaurants sprouting in every corner of the city, more and more Kolkatans are indulging in binge eating that has swelled the number of obese people. And, it is not only the adults who are guilty of not watching their calorie intake. Even children in Kolkata are fast putting on weight, raising the risk of fat-related diseases.

Check your thalassaemia status before marriage

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 01:09:00 -0500

As beta-thalassaemia is an inherited haemoglobin disorder, both the husband and wife should undergo a test to detect thalassaemia. In most cases the newborns become thalassaemic when both parents happen to be beta thalassaemia carriers.

Indian middle-class is finding new ways to flaunt their wealth

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 01:33:00 -0500

The Indian middle-class is finding new ways to flaunt their wealth. Instead of tea, it’s wine that’s high on shopping lists, writes Andrew Buncombe

Cactii of rarest kind in a hamlet in Gangadharpur, Howrah

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 23:06:00 -0500

What began as the need to fulfil a daily exigency, turned into a lifelong passion for flora and Soumen Aditya, a 37-year old self-taught botanist in a remote Howrah hamlet, now boasts of a greenhouse that preservs some of the rarest of the rare cactii.