View allAll Photos Tagged immunization
However, roughly 1 in 3 people worldwide still view the vaccine with distrust and uncertainty. Instead of a safety guarantee, they see the jab as a new risk that must be overcome. And when we look at the countries, which have very different health care systems and distribution plans, different perspectives are beginning to emerge. Confidence in the safety, efficiency and general distribution of the vaccine is very high in China, India and the UK, and lower than the US average. It is possible that uncertainty among the public will decrease as more people get the vaccine, but in March vaccination rates were still very low. 17 percent of respondents worldwide say they have been partially or fully vaccinated, while 83 percent have not received any dose. And it's unclear when vaccines will be available to anyone who wants one. Nearly 4 in 5 respondents who want the vaccine expect to receive it this year - but given the slow pace of global distribution, this seems unlikely. In January, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) predicted that immunization programs for most of the world's population will continue through mid-2022. This is critical, as a slow or uneven rollout jeopardizes the pursuit of herd immunity in the short term. As long as not enough people are vaccinated worldwide, there is a risk that a vaccine-immune variant will develop. It is unknown what proportion of the population needs to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to induce herd immunity.
She and we got scared on July 29th., 2020.
She sneaked out of our house to go to the street fair where farmers sell fruits and vegetables, somewhere nearby, she was infected with covid-19.
Our small town tests all residents. Her result was positive for covid-19. She is 80 years old. She had no symptoms and didn't even transmit it to us.
She says she has taken every precaution against the deadly virus.
Almost 125 thousand lives lost in Brazil until yesterday.
Update of numbers:
on July 21st., 2021 - 546 thousand people died until yesterday.
PS. The second dose of the covid-19 vaccine was applied today, on March 30th, 2021.
PS2. Brazil has already immunized 35.6 million people, equivalent to 16.82% of the population until July 21st., 2021.
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PS. July’s Explore takeover theme is…
How COVID-19 impacted your everyday life for inclusion in this month's Explore takeover dedicated to your "Pandemic Experiences." Do you remember the first photo you captured of the “new normal”?
...to get our second COVID immunization and were going to do errands afterwards. it was raining and chilly so we decided to come home by the wood stove
and veg.
when we left the dogs didn't even budge from their warm spots.
boo, she sleeps.
I took the lid of my fermentation crock today after 7 days. the sauerkraut is excellent. we're still eating the very hot kimchi.
lensbaby
**I'm still feeling a little overwhelmed with life, and particularly flickr. I work at least 3 hours a night on it and still don't get everything done.
I wanted to purge all my favorites and start from scratch but flickr doesn't allow for it.
I also want to dump all my contacts and start over again.
cleaning house.
The second dose of the Coronavac vaccine. The director of the Butantan institute said that CoronaVac proved to be effective against the Manaus variant, known as P1, and also against three other strains that circulate in the country: from the United Kingdom, South Africa and a last one that appeared in Rio de Janeiro, to P2.
I will be fully immunized in three weeks.
If I have covid-19, it will only be a mild case.
Blood will be collected for the third and last time to check my immunity (research) on April 19th. I didn't feel any side effects. Even today I will have the answer to the second blood collection they took today.
Science will win!
Brazil reaches 8.7 million vaccinated against covid, 4.13% of the population.
In all, 2,975,266 people received the two doses of vaccine, following the recommendation of the laboratories that produce CoronaVac and Oxford / AstraZeneca. The number corresponds to only 1.41% of the Brazilian population.
The bad Brazilian news is:
Brazil reached this Tuesday the worst numbers of the pandemic: there were 1,954 deaths caused by covid-19 in a 24-hour interval, with an average of 1,572 victims of the disease daily in the last week. It is the 11th consecutive day of record in the average of deaths.
Today is also the 48th consecutive day on which the country had a moving average of deaths from covid-19 above 1,000 - the longest period in the entire pandemic. Brazil has already passed a week with an accelerating trend in the average of deaths - today's variation was 39%.
The successive records consolidate a second wave even more lethal than the first in Brazil. Today, the state of São Paulo recorded the record of deaths from the disease in an interval of 24 hours: 517.
It is the eighth consecutive day with more than a thousand deaths counted in a 24-hour interval, the longest sequence in the entire pandemic. In total, there were 268,568 victims since March 2020. The five days with the highest number of victims occurred in March (the numbers do not indicate when the deaths actually occurred, but, when they started counting from the official balance sheets):
From yesterday to today, there have been 69,537 positive diagnoses for the new coronavirus across the country. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the number of infected has reached 11,125,017.
in from the field in the time of corona.
my daughter who is an ICU nurse got her immunization. whew!
.....on a hot summer day.
won in a raffle, he grew up in the "winner's" backyard. he was brought to our groomers and the they were asked to groom him and find him a home. he was so matted that they had to shave him down. he was full of ticks and fleas. they called us.
we know he was approximately 8 months old but our phone calls asking for his documents, immunization records, etc. were refused.
boo came to us from the canary islands via spain.
marina came to us from spain.
and louie louie came to us from a town 30 miles south of us.
they are all wonderful.
wind and water. lots of wind, less water than I'd like, but I can't complain.
marina at rest, in the sun, in between the rains.
digital with lensbaby
we ran around like crazy today, first to the grocery store to get ingredients for the sauerkraut and kim chi I want to make, then to the bank to deposit our stimulus checks, and to the post office. and after a very short rest, up to Eureka to get our first COVID immunization.
we're both tired tonight, and the dogs were ever so glad to have us home again.
life in the time of corona
Earlier this year Avian Flu struck a flock of critically endangered California Condors. By mid-April, 20 birds (one out of every six in the northern Arizona/southern Utah flock) had died. The first sick birds were found only about three weeks after this shot was taken. Losing that many birds so suddenly set the recovery and reintroduction program back a decade.
Fortunately, no condors have been found sick or dead since April 11. So, for now, the crisis has ebbed.
The organizations which have worked together to reintroduce the condors had the foresight to consider the potential of contagious disease. Today condors have been reintroduced into geographically dispersed locations, the mountains of southern California north of the Los Angeles basin, the Big Sur vicinity of the central California coast, northern Arizona/southern Utah, and in the mountains of Baja California. This reduces the likelihood of an outbreak of disease threatening the entire population.
A bit of good news, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved emergency use of a vaccine to immunize against avian flu, which is being tested in vultures and will soon be given to three condors before proceeding to attempt to vaccinate all the flocks. That will be a monumental task but the people working to save the species will stop at nothing to protect them. And because of them, this condor can represent his species in echoing that song…”I Will Survive.”
This image paints my baby as a pretty, gentle pup but looks can be deceiving! This was actually taken a few weeks ago and he has grown considerably since.
He has finally had his last immunization so we were able to take him for a walk into the big, exciting new world he has barely seen. One of the things I love about poodles (and I will try for an image at some stage) is they don't walk anywhere-they prance.
And prance Harpo did as his paws danced across the ground, just like he was walking on air. There was no time to stop in case it all ended. He just pranced on and on as if he couldn't believe his luck and all the delights, waiting to be explored were put there just for him.
Meet Yoshi
Yoshi was until December 2019 a feral cat who lived in the woods behind our house. Being all of 8 months old, he was an adept hunter, but would sometimes come to our patio and eat the food that we put there for him. When the weather started getting cold in late November/early December, we bought him an insulated outdoor house, which we put on our patio. Over the next few weeks, he began to trust us sufficiently to let us touch him, and even to enter into our sunroom that opens on to the patio. We noticed that he was wounded, had stopped sleeping in his house, and was breathing with great difficulty.
It turned out that he was being bullied by at least one large neighborhood cat who would come looking for him on the patio.
Fearing that he would not survive the bitter cold of 10 degrees Fahrenheit (-12 Celsius), we allowed him in our sunroom and closed the door with him inside.
Over the next weeks, we had him treated for fleas and ticks, got him all of his immunizations, and generally had him checked up. It turns out that he had something called a diaphagmattic hernia, meaning that there was a gap in his diaphragm. This had caused all of his lower intestines to move up into his chest cavity, severely restricting his lungs. We sent him to have surgery in December, and we were given medicine to give him, which we have been giving to him over the last three weeks.
We are happy to report that he is in the best of health, fully recovered, and almost ready to join the other cats in our household.
He has also become a wonderful housecat; friendly, warm, and engaging. Feral cats are not supposed to take easily to home living, but this little guy loves it!
IMPORTANT: for non-pro users who read the info on a computer, just enlarge your screen to 120% (or more), then the full text will appear below the photo with a white background - which makes reading so much easier.
You'll find my best photos (mostly not yet on Flickr) here: www.lacerta-bilineata.com/ticino-best-photos-of-southern-...
THE STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO:
The red fox (Vulpes vulpes) you see above - a vixen in the process of shedding her winter fur - was perhaps the luckiest shot I ever got. It was certainly the most unexpected. It was also a dream come true that I'd had ever since I picked up a camera again a few years ago to document the local fauna around my house in Ticino (Switzerland).
It's one of the most special photos to me, and this has nothing to do with its quality (which, compared to most of the gorgeous fox pictures I find here on Flickr, is average at best). But before I tell you how I got the shot, you have to know that foxes are - by far - my favorite wild mammals (sorry dear squirrels and roe deer: I love you guys, but it's not even close 😄).
That wasn't always the case. Believe it or not, I suffered from "Fennecaphobia" as a boy: the fear of foxes (and in case you wondered: I didn't make up that word, it actually exists 😂). To me, these were unholy, demonic creatures and harbingers of death the sole mention of which would make my skin crawl and the hair on the back of my neck stand up - and I'm not kidding.
Writing about it now obviously makes me chuckle; I mean, I spend half of my time in the city where these furry clowns are very common and so well adapted to urban life they'll probably soon start using credit cards and doing their own shopping - but when I was a kid growing up in the countryside near Zurich in the late 70s and early 80s, you would practically never see a wild fox.
This was at the height of Switzerland's effort to eradicate rabies, and foxes (and badgers and many other small mammals) had been gassed in their dens and shot and poisoned in staggering numbers for over a decade, to the point where - while the deadly virus persisted - entire populations of its unlucky potential carriers were eliminated.
The surviving animals were immunized through bait with a vaccine in it - mostly chicken heads that were laid out all over the country - and this approach thankfully worked very well (today, Switzerland is officially free of the deadly disease). But for a period of time which happened to coincide with my early childhood, the fox population in rural areas around Zurich was so decimated and shy, it was practically invisible.
All I knew about foxes were the constant warnings every kid my age heard from their parents: I was to immediately call an adult if I saw one and mustn't EVER try to get near it or touch it. Fat chance there was for that; I think I was in my early teens when I first encountered a wild fox in the forest (and considering I spent most of my free time in those woods as a child, that should tell you something how rare they were).
Not that I complained: there was nothing, and I mean NOTHING I was more afraid of as a child than a fox. These were creatures I had nightmares about; vampires and werewolves or other monsters didn't scare me (they were from a world of fantasy I knew little about) - but here was a real beast of flesh and blood even grownups seemed to be scared of. It could attack you, and its bite would first make you go insane, and then you would die a horrible, slow death.
Well, thankfully no such thing happened to young me 😁, and I guess as is the case with most things we fear as kids, they also fascinate us. So over time, by reading about foxes and watching countless documentaries, I eventually lost my "Fennecaphobia", and the furry goofballs started to grow on me (it certainly also helped that as I got older, rabies wasn't this frightening topic everyone talked about anymore - plus I saw the wonderful Disney cartoons 'Robin Hood' and 'The Fox And The Hound': THAT was definitely instrumental in me overcoming my fears 😊).
Cut to today where I see foxes for what they are: the most adorable, curious, smart and playful creatures in our forests and cities (again: sorry dear squirrels and roe deer fawns 😄 ). And they are so beautiful; I mean, if you've ever seen a red fox in its full, fluffy winter fur and didn't think this was the most gorgeous wild animal, then you should probably have your eyes (and your soul) checked. 😊
But ironically, live encounters with wily fox in the forest - and particularly around my home in Ticino - have been exceedingly rare for me. In fact, over the past 40 years since my mom acquired this little house I now live in, I've only ever met a single fox in the area, and that was nearly 20 years ago.
So imagine my surprise - and my delight - when I finally got to see (and photograph!) one without even having to leave my garden. Here's how that happened: one day in May '22, I was using the zoom of my camera to scan the honeysuckle shrub right outside my garden for lizards, when I suddenly detected movement in the horse pasture behind the shrub.
I immediately adjusted the lens - and the vixen walked right into my viewfinder. I was so excited I nearly had a heart attack. I had time to click five times, then she was gone; my second Ticino fox encounter in 40 years hadn't lasted longer than 7 seconds.
But I was ecstatic: even though I had taken the shots from a distance of at least 30 meters and used the full range of the zoom, they vixen was in focus, and in one of the photos (the one above), even her eyes were visible.
As you can see, Mrs. Fox was in the midst of getting rid of her winter coat, but if she looks a bit ruffled in the photo, that's also because she was most likely raising a few cubs at that time, and little baby foxes aren't exactly tender with their paws and snouts when they plow through mom's fur in the search for milk. I only saw Mama Fox this once, and then never again.
So, that's it; that's the (hi-)story of the shot and my relationship with these beautiful animals, and now you perhaps understand why both are so special to me. By the way, there IS now a fox that visits my garden nearly every night: I've never seen the fella, but I've found his (or her) tracks - as well as the chaos left behind when he/she's raided my compost pile and my buffet for birds. I guess I'll have to get a trail camera one of these days... 😊
As always, many thanks for reading and commenting: have a great start into the new week everyone! ❤🙏😊
Immunization Covid19 Vaccine (SARS-CoV-2 - Coronavirus) | Imunização Vacina Covid19 (SARS-CoV-2 - Coronavirus) | São Paulo/SP - Brasil
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Instagram → @luciano_cres
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The zombie plague had become airborne. Even in the Dark Age, some figured out a solution. Healthcare workers observed that masks stifled the plague’s spread.
Vaccines for healthcare workers to immunize them from the black zombie plague had not been invented. Viruses and vaccines were a few hundred years away from being discovered.
*Writer's note: The comments above are fictional. This is a photo I took from Louisville's Zombie Walk of 2019, where locals dress up as zombies and parade their zombie costumes. Zombies are fake. Vaccines do not turn people into zombies. However, scientists say that the real black plague was airborne. It was figured out during that time that masks help limit the spread of the disease.
Here's another scene from the Spring Grove cemetery/arboretum.
I wanted to tell you all that I have been ill the past two days, with the effects of the second Covid immunization. That's good, of course, because that means vaccine is working. But it laid me flat. I didn't even turn on my computer the first day after the shot. Last night I went and looked at all your photos and read what you wrote, but that's all the energy I had.
I'll start anew tonight, but my energy is still very low, and I might not comment much. I'll be back to normal soon, though!
Boeing 737-84P SE-RXA msn 35757/3192 Unicef Livery Norwegian Air Sweden Riga International Airport RIX/EVRA Latvia Riga(RIX) - Alicante(ALC)
Britannica. UNICEF was created in 1946 to provide relief to children in countries devastated by World War II. After 1950 the fund directed its efforts toward general programs for the improvement of children’s welfare, particularly in less-developed countries and in various emergency situations. The organization’s broader mission was reflected in the name it adopted in 1953, the United Nations Children’s Fund. UNICEF was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1965. It is headquartered in New York City.
Acronym of: United Nations Children’s Fund
Formerly (1946–53): United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund
Areas Of Involvement: education health child
Related People: Audrey Hepburn Ève Curie Peter Ustinov Ferdinand Léopold Oyono Sheikh Hamidou Kane
UNICEF has concentrated much of its effort in areas in which relatively small expenditures can have a significant impact on the lives of the most disadvantaged children, such as the prevention and treatment of disease. In keeping with this strategy, UNICEF supports immunization programs for childhood diseases and programs to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS; it also provides funding for health services, educational facilities, and other welfare services. Since 1996 UNICEF programs have been guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), which affirms the right of all children to “the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health.” UNICEF’s activities are financed by both government and private contributions.
Karen Mingst
I was fortunate to be able to take photos at a branding today. New calves need to be branded and immunized at each ranch in the spring. This is the real deal - not a rodeo or a staged event, and most city folks are unaware that this sort of thing still takes place in areas like the Bear Lake Valley, Idaho.
In this photo a cowboy has roped a calf which is about to have its hind legs roped as well. I plan to post more of the action in the next few days.
With 123 years of history, Instituto Butantan is located in the city of São Paulo (state of São Paulo, Brazil) is the main producer of immunobiologicals in Brazil. It is responsible for a considerable percentage of the national production of hyperimmune sera and vaccine antigens, which make up the vaccines used in the National Immunization Program (Programa Nacional de Imunizações, PNI) of the Brazilian Ministry of Health. The production of health inputs are associated with the production of vaccines, antitoxins and antivenoms, and biopharmaceuticals for human use, exporting sera and vaccines for over 10 countries in Latin America and Europe. Nowadays, Butantan produces vacines against Covid-19, flu, tetanus, diphtheria, hepatitis A and B, chikungunya, whooping cough, dengue, HPV and rabies; serum against venoms, bacterial toxins and the rabies vírus, and monoclonal antibody anti-TNF-alfa (tumor necrosis factor-alfa, a cytokine involved in several immunopathological conditions as reumatoid arthritis and Crohn disease).
Afsar Jahan (Black dress) and her daughter Saba Banu (blue dress) : Saba contracted polio as a child and is using crutches ..India has been engaged in a campaign to eradicate polio in India which target the high-risk area of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar with polio immunization drives every 2 months. (photo Jean-Marc Giboux)
The National Carillon on Aspen Island on Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra lit up for World Blood Donor Day, 2016. Australian Capital Territory.
Every year on 14 June, countries around the world celebrate World Blood Donor Day (WBDD). The event, established in 2004, serves to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products, and to thank blood donors for their voluntary, life-saving gifts of blood.
World Blood Donor Day is one of eight official global public health campaigns marked by the World Health Organization (WHO), along with World Health Day, World Tuberculosis Day, World Immunization Week, World Malaria Day, World No Tobacco Day, World Hepatitis Day, and World AIDS Day
Immunization Covid19 Vaccine (SARS-CoV-2 - Coronavirus) | Imunização Vacina Covid19 (SARS-CoV-2 - Coronavirus) | São Paulo/SP - Brasil
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Instagram → @luciano_cres
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On the main bed with a ruler, to show you how she is growing. She weighed 2 pounds, 1 ounce at the vet's today (another immunization shot). Taken by Edgar.
He said that God could not possibly be one of love, because the world had made him suffer.
Repeating his bitter and childlike murmurings, unaware or unwilling to be aware of the scope of even a lifetime of pain, passing like the prick of a needle in length of eternity.
Comparable to the infant being immunized, confused and doubting the love in the act of that brief sharp sting.
10 July 2021: In recent days the figures relating to the coronavirus pandemic in Belgium have taken a turn for the worse. The number of new infections has been rising for around a week now and yesterday (Friday) the average number of daily hospital admissions rose for the first time in weeks. During the week from 30 June to 6 July an average of 697 people tested positive for the coronavirus. This is 81% up on the figures for the previous week. The total number of patients with COVID-19 that are being cared for in the country’s hospitals stands now at 250. Of those hospitalised 95 are on intensive care wards. The basic reproductive rate for coronavirus in Belgium currently stands at 1.09. Since a large number of people have still not been fully immunized against COVID-19 and since there is no reason to believe that the figures will start falling again in a couple of weeks the situation is very worrying. Belgium is not alone. The number of coronavirus infections is increasing across Europe. In the Netherlands, the number of coronavirus infections is rising sharply, with 6,986 new cases in the past 24 hours. The Dutch government announced yesterday new restrictions to limit the hospitality industry and live events sectors. In summary until a very high % of the population is fully immunized we will need to remain cautious – Bruges, Belgium.
acrylic & ink on canvas, 13 x 18 cm
Angel Vaccine
Engelimpfstoff
Engelenvaccin
Vaccin-faiseur d'anges
injection d'ange immunogène
large-scale experiments on the population by European political leadership, worse than in the Nazi era
In Israel Pfizer realized what Hitler and Mengele couldn't do
www.frontnieuws.com/studies-in-het-meest-gevaccineerde-la...
the system has released a bioweapon but it's not COVID. The bioweapon is the COVID vaccine. (Cesare Sacchetti)
Prof Dolores Cahill
twitter.com/i/status/1379830216181211136
twitter.com/i/status/1434592299330244618
Meer dan ooit zijn de vaccins de weg naar onze vrijheid. (Belgisch Eerste Minister Alexander De Croo op 15 april 2021 op twitter) - conclusie : de PM geeft toe dat we zonder vrijheid in een dictatuur leven !
Impfstoff macht frei ??? Le suicide est-il une façon de retrouver la liberté ?
twitter.com/alexanderdecroo/status/1382727418423746569
“Deze epidemie is vandaag een epidemie aan het worden van de niet-gevaccineerden”, zei premier Alexander De Croo (Open Vld) na het Overlegcomité van vandaag. De Croo was heel scherp voor vaccinweigeraars.
Onze intensieve zorgen zijn een verzamelplaats aan het worden van mensen die niet gevaccineerd zijn. Dat kunnen we als samenleving niet aanvaarden. We kunnen niet aanvaarden dat er mensen zijn die de keuze maken om andere mensen in gevaar te brengen. Niemand heeft dat recht, om vrijwillig andere mensen in gevaar te brengen. Niemand zou iemand anders zoiets mogen aandoen. De vaccins zijn veilig, gratis en overal beschikbaar.”
www.hln.be/dossier-overlegcomite-17-september/premier-de-...
(Der Bundesgesundheitsminister Jens Spahn, in Bad Kissingen: “Wir impfen Deutschland in die Freiheit zurück”. 23. August 2021.
twitter.com/MathiasPriebe/status/1429772984944844806
Vaccination: The act of introducing a vaccine into the body to produce immunity to a specific disease. Immunization: A process by which a person becomes protected against a disease through vaccination. This term is often used interchangeably with vaccination or inoculation.
When you get a vaccine, your immune system responds to the vaccine the same way it would to the real germ. It: Recognizes the germ in the vaccine as being foreign. Responds by making antibodies to the germ in the vaccine, just as it would for the real germ..
Niet de Chinezen maar de Rockefeller Foundation in 2010
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwUXLykvBu4
Secret Docs Reveal Moderna Sent Coronavirus Vaccine To North Carolina University Weeks Before Pandemic
greatgameindia.com/moderna-vaccine-north-carolina-univers...
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Stalag Zehn B
the feldwebel became a general
the campdoctor , a professor
and we the jews - it’s banal
we stayed jewish - no error
© by Jan Theuninck
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C’est pour notre bien qu’on a dû changer la définition de ce qu’est un vaccin pour pouvoir dire que ces expériences géniques sont des vaccins.
cogiito.com/a-la-une/a-tous-les-gens-raisonnables-et-tres...
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Nano coronavirus recombinant vaccine taking graphene oxide as carrier
patents.google.com/patent/CN112220919A/en?oq=CN112220919A
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Dr. Albarracín voorspelt (beginnend bij minuut 27 en 29 seconden in de video hier, Spaans) dat in de herfst-winter van 2021 ten minste 20%-30% van degenen die tegen Covid zijn gevaccineerd, aan het vaccin zal overlijden, en dat de sterfgevallen aan een nieuwe stam zullen worden toegeschreven, bericht het Spaanse nieuwsorgaan Trikooba.com.
www.frontnieuws.com/artsen-voor-de-waarheid-in-de-herfst-...
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Jan Theuninck has been painting the evolution of Western totalitarianism for 20 years - he saw the evolution within the political spectrum where the socialist parties were lost (Fagospatose, 2001) in the Third Way (The third way is no way, 2004) movement of Clinton , Blair and Schröder with which they gave a face to communitarianism of the New World Order. He has often compared the latter to a new kind of National Socialism. His attention has always been fixed thanks to the more than 50 years of misery with blackmail games of the services and torture practices with chemical and energy weapons (Beyond the limit, 2001, Rinascimento, 2009, The culture of learned helplessness, 2011, Neostasi, 2012, Derailed system , 2012, The banality of Evil, 2013, Zersetzung, 2014, ils nous tiennent, 2015, Submission, 2015, Threat, 2016, Utopia, 2016, Conformity, 2017, Brainwashing, 2018, Warnung, 2019, Dein Kampf, 2019, Censorship, 2020, Post-truth society, 2020 and in 2021: Political Pandemic, New World Order, The Great Reset, Angel Vaccine, Aryan Corona Passport, Cytokine Storm, Back from never been away .
(In 2014 he already painted Virus Attack without believing that this would become a climax of the Davos counter-revolution years later)
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Art with the intellectual level of a sardine according to the rules of Covidism, the Church of Duval:
Nouvelle religion : le covidisme - Karim Duval
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_48gKagPaB0
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Jan Theuninck is a Belgian painter
www.boekgrrls.nl/BgDiversen/Onderwerpen/gedichten_over_sc...
www.forumeerstewereldoorlog.be/wiki/index.php/Yperite-Jan...
www.graphiste-webdesigner.fr/blog/2013/04/la-peinture-bel... (année 2016)
www.eutrio.be/expo-west-meets-east
Today is vaccination day at my local doctor. Plaster for after the shot actually was waiting for some information, and just took 3 or four shots in mixed indirect light from outside.
Due to the short notice, when and what medicine, and the amount of vaccine they will receive, they schedule two days a week for this process.
But this is only the half-truth, typically the amount of vaccine will be announced on Thursday, Friday and Mondays are for scheduling, Tuesday and Wednesday for the shots. Monday - Friday is for answering questions. That’s the way with Corona or Covid-19 these days.
Not enough vaccines from Bionotech, Moderna, Astra Zeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and others, then there are huge vaccination centers, and at the moment there are more daily doses at your local doctor or companies inhouse medical service
A black monochrome version of this lovely statue at Carling Executive Park, Ottawa, Ontario, photographed on the last day of our Winter. Sunny but quite cold, a high of +3C, and down to below freezing tonight. Tomorrow, Spring Equinox, sunny and a high of +13C. Yes, we are reaching for much outdoor activities and safe family gatherings post immunization for COVID19. Let’s hope we can eliminate this pandemic once and for all!
Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris), no more than 8 centimeters, is easily recognized by its coloration.
Where they live?
They are distributed by the western tropical Pacific in areas of coastal reefs at a depth ranging from 1 to 15 meters.
What do they eat?
Both algae and zooplankton benthic invertebrates.
How do they reproduce?
Adults live in pairs associated with an anemone. During the spawning season the female lays 500-1500 eggs are fertilized and guarded by the male. They are deposited on a hard substrate, with Anemone, within the scope of its tentacles. With the continuous movement of their fins, the male will move the water around the eggs to keep oxygenates the developing embryos and prevent the formation of fungi.
To protect the eggs from the tentacles of the anemone, clownfish takes the eggs one by one on your mouth and rubbed on the tentacles to the mucus of these cover the eggs and embryos immunize the stinging substance.
Did you know?
All fry are males, being the largest specimen which becomes female death of the dominant female of the group.
Other platforms:
It was a very cold morning (3 degrees F) when I visited the Weston family at their Wine Cup Cattle Company ranch in Ovid, Idaho. In this photo, a cowboy is moving cows into a corral for pregnancy testing and immunizations. Black cows and glaring white snow make for tricky photography. The Westons are very friendly people and greeted us with donuts and hot chocolate.
PLEASE, NO invitations or self promotions, THEY WILL BE DELETED. My photos are FREE to use, just give me credit and it would be nice if you let me know, thanks.
Why is everyone upset about a vaccine passport, we kind of have one now in Canada! This is my Travel Immunization Record, it contains information that I have had vaccines for Yellow Fever, Tetanus/Diphtheria, Influenza, Typhoid, and Twinrix. Some of these vaccines are required by other countries to visit there and it also is protection for myself as the medical personal in other countries can see what I have had, if required.
I only wish that the Corvid-19 vaccines could be added to this document. When we get a shot an e-mail is sent to say we had it and the batch number, I printed it and have a copy with me.
Mexico, 1960: At a UNICEF-assisted clinic, Concepcion, 3, wears braces on her polio-weakened legs. Three decades later, in 1994, the Americas became the first geographic region to eradicate polio. Today, the GAVI Alliance, which includes UN agencies, private foundations, governments and the vaccine industry, holds a pledging conference to increase donations for immunization programmes that will save an additional 4 million lives by 2015.
© UNICEF
To see more: www.unicef.org/photography
Also download the UNICEF Photography iPhone app here
meet squiggles! ...08 has been a tough year for our dogs...
here's hoping our K9's will have a better '09!
don't forget to immunize your dogs and get those tags on!
A composite artistic illustration of three empty beds inside a deserted sanatorium. On one bed there are three doses of « vaccin BCG pour immunisation des nouveau-nés » (BCG vaccine for immunization of newborns); they were produced in 1931 by Institut Pasteur de Paris. Vivien Leigh’s face emerges as an ethereal reminder of the famous star’s death of tuberculosis.
In the past, physicians knew their patients didn’t even want to hear the name of their dreadful diagnosis, so they avoided saying it in full; they used the “TB” abbreviation instead. Tuberculosis (aka Consumption or Phthisis) was uniformly fatal and contagious and a social stigma, all at the same time! Almost half the pages of many medical textbooks were dedicated to this disease, as if Tuberculosis were the leading star amidst all other infections.
Notorious failures ensued from erroneous attempts to treat the disease by compulsory bedrest, being admitted to high-altitude sanatoria, collapse-therapy and the like. Even bloodletting was once advertised for treating tuberculosis!
It was only in the 1950s that effective medication was introduced for treatment (streptomycin discovered in 1944, isoniazid in 1952, rifampicin later etc.).
“Bacille de Calmette-Guérin” (B.C.G.) is the name of the vaccine against tuberculosis; it was introduced in 1921, after being developed over a period of 13 years (1908-1921). BCG is produced from a weakened strain of Mycobacterium bovis. The vaccine can prevent some rare and extremely-rapidly progressing forms of tuberculosis (such as tuberculous meningitis and miliary dissemination via the bloodstream) in newborn babies and infants, if administered 6 weeks after birth rather than at the traditional age of 13 years. The BCG vaccine produces almost lifelong cellular immunity and, consequently, diminishes the diagnostic value of tuberculin tests (e.g. Mantoux) for the rest of the vaccinated persons’ lives.
BCG-vaccinated persons can be affected by Pulmonary Tuberculosis all right (and die of it, if left undiagnosed or untreated) as much as unvaccinated adults can. The introduction of the BCG vaccine in 1921 didn’t impede the spread of tuberculosis in the world; effective antituberculous antibiotics did in the 1950s!
Currently, cases of Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis are very challenging to treat especially in immunocompromised patients. Modern-day physicians are less experienced and less familiarized with diagnosing tuberculosis either in the lab or in the clinical setting.
Moke needed immunizations and also is learning to cooperate with getting his temperature taken, having his teeth checked, and pulse oximetry.
Kudos to the keepers for their skill and patience.
screenshot from SNZ video
nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/news/gorillastory-medical-trai...
Yesterday, I had to take "the kids" to the vets to update all their immunization shots.
When we got home, Vinny hid under the bed, Dora hid under the couch, and Ozzie buried himself under the covers in my bed, and stayed there until dinner time!
Sylhet, Bangladesh, 2014.
A health worker is administering polio vaccine to an infant during a regular 'Extended Program of Immunization (EPI)' session in a village in Sylhet, Bangladesh.
Bangladesh was recently declared a polio free country along with 10 other countries in South Asia.
The Extended Program of Immunization (EPI) is a nation-wide campaign to prevent six deadly diseases in the newborns. Almost all the villages and remote areas of Bangladesh are covered under the umbrella of this campaign where local people actively assist in transporting and administering the vaccines. The parents enthusiastically participate in the program and maintain the regular vaccination schedule assigned to their children.
Developed countries like the United States of America, where a significant portion of the population is against any kind of vaccination, has a lot to learn from this example.
The Pfizer vaccine finally is accessible here in Cornwall Ontario to frontline workers now outside of hospital or LTC nursing homes. As of March 4th, 2.2 million Canadians have been vaccinated but only 4.2%. Now in the USA, 72 million doses up to 14.6% population. In order to achieve herd immunity to eliminate the virus at least 70% of the population needs to be vaccinated, so we have a long way to go. Scary that testing immunized people reveals that the virus can still manifest in the nose as the antibodies don’t eliminate it nasally. Yet up to 95% vaccinated will have no symptoms from the virus in the body as the antibodies eliminate it in the blood. Unfortunately, it is theoretically possible that the virus could still be spread from the nose of vaccinated people similar to the 40% of asymptotic spreaders of COVID19. Therefore public health measures must still be maintained including masking, hand sanitizing and social distancing. Despite this, after 12 days of getting our fist vaccination we can safely hug our grandson!
Santa stopped by the office today for his annual check up. I'm pleased to report the jolly old elf is in great shape despite his advanced age (estimated to be 600 years old). However, the rate of shingles is on the rise and I convinced him to get vaccinated against it. The painful rash, also known as 'herpes zoster', will affect 1 out of 3 people in their lifetime (1 out of 2 over 85, and virtually all Santa's age). Canada has at least 130,000 cases per year costing the health care system 69 million. While the vaccine is not free, about $185 dollars a shot, it's effective at reducing the burden of this terrible disease. In particular it can prevent the chronic pain associated with shingles. So for all you baby-boomer's out there, follow Santa's lead, have a chat with your healthcare provider, and if it's right for you, get it!
++++++++++ FROM WIKIPEDIA ++++++++++
Kumortuli (also spelt Kumartuli, or the archaic spelling Coomartolly) is a traditional potters’ quarter in northern Kolkata (previously known as Calcutta), the capital of the east Indian state of West Bengal. The city is famous as a sculpting hot-spot which not only manufactures clay idols for various festivals but also regularly exports them.
History
The British colonisation of Bengal and India started following the victory of the British East India Company in the Battle of Plassey in 1757. The Company decided to build new settlement Fort William at the site of the Gobindapur village. Most of the existing population shifted to Sutanuti. While such neighbourhoods as Jorasanko and Pathuriaghata became the centres of the local rich, there were other areas that were developed simultaneously.[1] The villages of Gobindapur, Sutanuti and Kalikata developed to give rise to the latter day metropolis of Calcutta.
Holwell, under orders from the Directors of the British East India Company, allotted ‘separate districts to the Company’s workmen.’ These neighbourhoods in the heart of the Indian quarters acquired the work-related names – Suriparah (the place of wine sellers), Collotollah (the place of oil men), Chuttarparah (the place of carpenters), Aheeritollah (cowherd's quarters), Coomartolly (potters’ quarters) and so on.[2]
Most of the artisans living in the north Kolkata neighbourhoods dwindled in numbers or even vanished, as they were pushed out of the area in the late nineteenth century by the invasion from Burrabazar.[3] In addition, Marwari businessmen virtually flushed out others from many north Kolkata localities. The potters of Kumortuli, who fashioned the clay from the river beside their home into pots to be sold at Sutanuti Bazar (later Burrabazar), managed to survive in the area. Gradually they took to making the images of gods and goddesses, worshipped in large numbers in the mansions all around and later at community pujas in the city and beyond.[4]
In 1888, one of the 25 newly organized police section houses was located in Kumartuli.[5]
Geography
Kumortuli is located in Ward No. 9 of Kolkata Municipal Corporation, mostly between Rabindra Sarani (formerly Chitpur Road) and the Hooghly River. It is between Ahiritola and Shobhabazar.[6] In maps showing thanas or police stations in old Kolkata, Kumortuli is shown as being between Shyampukur, Bartala, Jorasanko, Jorabagan and Hooghly River.[7]
Culture
Dhakeswari Mata Temple
Dhakeswari Mata Temple is a Hindu temple located in Kumortuli, Near Sovabazar, Kolkata. Situated in eastern bank of hooghly river near Kumartolly area. The presiding deity of the temple is Devi Durga, which was taken to Kolkata in 1947 from Dhakeswari Temple in Dhaka, Bangladesh.[8][9]
The idol is 1.5 feet tall, has ten arms, mounted on her lion in the form of Katyani Mahishasurmardini Durga. On her two sides are Laxmi, Saraswati, Kartik and Ganesh.[8] And the mount, lion, is Mythological Lion. There are rumours surrounding the origin of this temple. It is believed that the wife of King Bijoy Sen once went to the village of Langolbond to bathe. On her way back she gave birth to a son, Ballal Sen.[10] Later this Prince became King of the Sena destiny. After ascending to the throne, Ballal Sen built a temple to glorify his birthplace, which is known as Dhakeswari temple, Bangladesh.[11]
Ballal Sen proceeded to have vivid dreams, one of which involved the deity Durga. He dreamt that Durga was hidden within the jungle; he then discovered the deity who was concealed there. In order to celebrate this discovery, he built a temple later named Dhakeswari. This explains the etymological meaning of "Dhakeswari", which means "covered or hidden deity". According to Bengali Hindus Dhakeswari is considered to be the presiding deity of Dhaka, which is an incarnation or form of Goddess Durga, the Adi Shakti. The idol of Durga is called Dhakeswari.[12]
Location in Kolkata
In 1947, during the Partition of India, priests of the temple decided to evacuate the idol from Kolkata to Dhaka due to security reasons.[8][13][14]
After this, a Tiwari family from Azamgarh was appointed by the royal family to undertake daily worship of the deity. In 1946, the descendants of that family, Prallad Kishore Tiwari (or Rajendra Kishore Tiwari) transported the idol in a highly confidential aircraft to Kolkata and was re-appointed, where they still serve the Goddess continuously. After taken to Kolkata, the idol spent the next 2 or 3 years worshipping in the Debendranath Chowdhury home.[8]
In 1950 the businessman Debendranath Chowdhary built the temple of Goddess in the Kumortuli area and established some of the Goddess' property for her daily services.[8]
The Dhakeshwari devi worship is different from the traditional Durga puja of Bengal. According to the current priest of the temple, Shaktiprasad Ghosal, during Durga Puja, the goddess is worshiped in accordance with the Navratri or nine night rituals of Northern India.[8]
Famous residents
Being in the periphery of the heart of Kolkata, Kumortuli was home to a number of renowned persons during the Bengal Renaissance.
There is a road in Kumortuli named after Nandram Sen, famous as Black Deputy, and the first collector of Kolkata in 1700.[15] Gobindram Mitter, the next Black Deputy, had a sprawling house at Kumortuli spread on 50 bighas (around 16 acres) of land.[16]
Banamali Sarkar's famous house which is immortalized in Bengali rhyming proverb, was there till the 19th century. He has a winding lane named after him in Kumortuli.[17]
Kolkata /koʊlˈkɑːtə/ ([kolkata] (About this soundlisten), also known as Calcutta /kælˈkʌtə/, the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River approximately 75 kilometres (47 mi) west of the border with Bangladesh, it is the principal commercial, cultural, and educational centre of East India, while the Port of Kolkata is India's oldest operating port and its sole major riverine port. The city is widely regarded as the "cultural capital" of India, and is also nicknamed the "City of Joy".[1][2][3].According to the 2011 Indian census, it is the seventh most populous city. 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 Area's economy have ranged from $60 to $150 billion (GDP adjusted for purchasing power parity) making it third most-productive metropolitan area in India, after Mumbai and Delhi.[11][12][13]
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,[15] the area was developed by the Company into an increasingly fortified trading post. 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 strong enough to abolish Nizamat (local rule), and assumed full sovereignty of the region. Under the company rule, and later under the British Raj, Calcutta served as the capital of British-held territories in India until 1911, when its perceived geographical disadvantages, combined with growing nationalism in Bengal, led to a shift of the capital to New Delhi. 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.
As a nucleus of the 19th- and early 20th-century Bengal Renaissance and a religiously and ethnically diverse centre of culture in Bengal and India, Kolkata has local traditions in drama, art, film, theatre, and literature. Many people from Kolkata—among them several Nobel laureates—have contributed to the arts, the sciences, and other areas. Kolkata culture features idiosyncrasies that include distinctively close-knit neighbourhoods (paras) and freestyle intellectual exchanges (adda). West Bengal's share of the Bengali film industry is based in the city, which also hosts venerable cultural institutions of national importance, such as the Academy of Fine Arts, the Victoria Memorial, the Asiatic Society, the Indian Museum and the National Library of India. Among professional scientific institutions, Kolkata hosts the Agri Horticultural Society of India, the Geological Survey of India, the Botanical Survey of India, the Calcutta Mathematical Society, the Indian Science Congress Association, the Zoological Survey of India, the Institution of Engineers, the Anthropological Survey of India and the Indian Public Health Association. Though home to major cricketing venues and franchises, Kolkata differs from other Indian cities by giving importance to association football and other sports.
Etymology
The word Kolkata derives from the Bengali term Kôlikata (Bengali: কলিকাতা) [ˈkɔlikat̪a], the name of one of three villages that predated the arrival of the British, in the area where the city eventually was to be established; the other two villages were Sutanuti and Govindapur.[16]
There are several explanations about the etymology of this name:
The term Kolikata is thought to be a variation of Kalikkhetrô [ˈkalikʰːet̪rɔ] (Bengali: কালীক্ষেত্র), meaning "Field of [the goddess] Kali". Similarly, it can be a variation of 'Kalikshetra' (Sanskrit: कालीक्षेत्र, lit. "area of Goddess Kali").
Another theory is that the name derives from Kalighat.[17]
Alternatively, the name may have been derived from the Bengali term kilkila (Bengali: কিলকিলা), or "flat area".[18]
The name may have its origin in the words khal [ˈkʰal] (Bengali: খাল) meaning "canal", followed by kaṭa [ˈkata] (Bengali: কাটা), which may mean "dug".[19]
According to another theory, the area specialised in the production of quicklime or koli chun [ˈkɔlitɕun] (Bengali: কলি চুন) and coir or kata [ˈkat̪a] (Bengali: কাতা); hence, it was called Kolikata [ˈkɔlikat̪a] (Bengali: কলিকাতা).[18]
Although the city's name has always been pronounced Kolkata [ˈkolkat̪a] (Bengali: কলকাতা) or Kôlikata [ˈkɔlikat̪a] (Bengali: কলিকাতা) in Bengali, the anglicised form Calcutta was the official name until 2001, when it was changed to Kolkata in order to match Bengali pronunciation.[20] (It should be noted that "Calcutt" is an etymologically unrelated place name found at several locations in England.)
History
The discovery and archaeological study of Chandraketugarh, 35 kilometres (22 mi) north of Kolkata, provide evidence that the region in which the city stands has been inhabited for over two millennia.[21][22] Kolkata's recorded history began in 1690 with the arrival of the English East India Company, which was consolidating its trade business in Bengal. Job Charnock, an administrator who worked for the company, was formerly credited as the founder of the city;[23] In response to a public petition,[24] the Calcutta High Court ruled in 2003 that the city does not have a founder.[25] The area occupied by the present-day city encompassed three villages: Kalikata, Gobindapur, and Sutanuti. Kalikata was a fishing village; Sutanuti was a riverside weavers' village. They were part of an estate belonging to the Mughal emperor; the jagirdari (a land grant bestowed by a king on his noblemen) taxation rights to the villages were held by the Sabarna Roy Choudhury family of landowners, or zamindars. These rights were transferred to the East India Company in 1698.[26]:1
In 1712, the British completed the construction of Fort William, located on the east bank of the Hooghly River to protect their trading factory.[27] 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 tax evasion by the company. 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.[28] A force of Company soldiers (sepoys) and British troops led by Robert Clive recaptured the city the following year.[28] Per the 1765 Treaty of Allahabad following the battle of Buxar, East India company was appointed imperial tax collector of the Mughal emperor in the province of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, while Mughal-appointed Nawabs continued to rule the province.[29] Declared a presidency city, Calcutta became the headquarters of the East India Company by 1773.[30] In 1793, ruling power of the Nawabs were abolished and East India company took complete control of the city and the province. In the early 19th century, the marshes surrounding the city were drained; the government area was laid out along the banks of the Hooghly River. Richard Wellesley, Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William between 1797 and 1805, was largely responsible for the development of the city and its public architecture.[31] Throughout the late 18th and 19th century, the city was a centre of the East India Company's opium trade.[32]
By the 1850s, Calcutta had two areas: White Town, which was primarily British and centred on Chowringhee and Dalhousie Square; and Black Town, mainly Indian and centred on North Calcutta.[33] The city underwent rapid industrial growth starting in the early 1850s, especially in the textile and jute industries; this encouraged British companies to massively invest in infrastructure projects, which included telegraph connections and Howrah railway station. The coalescence of British and Indian culture resulted in the emergence of a new babu class of urbane Indians, whose members were often bureaucrats, professionals, newspaper readers, and Anglophiles; they usually belonged to upper-caste Hindu communities.[34] In the 19th century, the Bengal Renaissance brought about an increased sociocultural sophistication among city denizens. In 1883, Calcutta was host to the first national conference of the Indian National Association, the first avowed nationalist organisation in India.[35]
Bengali billboards on Harrison Street. Calcutta was the largest commercial centre in British India.
The partition of Bengal in 1905 along religious lines led to mass protests, making Calcutta a less hospitable place for the British.[36][37] The capital was moved to New Delhi in 1911.[38] Calcutta continued to be a centre for revolutionary organisations associated with the Indian independence movement. The city and its port were bombed several times by the Japanese between 1942 and 1944, during World War II.[39][40] Coinciding with the war, millions starved to death during the Bengal famine of 1943 due to a combination of military, administrative, and natural factors.[41] Demands for the creation of a Muslim state led in 1946 to an episode of communal violence that killed over 4,000.[42][43][44] The partition of India led to further clashes and a demographic shift—many Muslims left for East Pakistan (present day Bangladesh), while hundreds of thousands of Hindus fled into the city.[45]
During the 1960s and 1970s, severe power shortages, strikes, and a violent Marxist–Maoist movement by groups known as the Naxalites damaged much of the city's infrastructure, resulting in economic stagnation.[46] The Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 led to a massive influx of thousands of refugees, many of them penniless, that strained Kolkata's infrastructure.[47] During the mid-1980s, Mumbai (then called Bombay) overtook Kolkata as India's most populous city. In 1985, prime minister Rajiv Gandhi dubbed Kolkata a "dying city" in light of its socio-political woes.[48] In the period 1977–2011, West Bengal was governed from Kolkata by the Left Front, which was dominated by the Communist Party of India (CPM). It was the world's longest-serving democratically elected communist government, during which Kolkata was a key base for Indian communism.[49][50][51] In the West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, 2011, Left Front was defeated by the Trinamool Congress. The city's economic recovery gathered momentum after the 1990s, when India began to institute pro-market reforms. Since 2000, the information technology (IT) services sector has revitalised Kolkata's stagnant economy. The city is also experiencing marked growth in its manufacturing base.[52]
Geography
Spread roughly north–south along the east bank of the Hooghly River, Kolkata sits within the lower Ganges Delta of eastern India approximately 75 km (47 mi) west of the international border with Bangladesh; the city's elevation is 1.5–9 m (5–30 ft).[53] Much of the city was originally a wetland that was reclaimed over the decades to accommodate a burgeoning population.[54] The remaining undeveloped areas, known as the East Kolkata Wetlands, were designated a "wetland of international importance" by the Ramsar Convention (1975).[55] As with most of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, the soil and water are predominantly alluvial in origin. Kolkata is located over the "Bengal basin", a pericratonic tertiary basin.[56] Bengal basin comprises three structural units: shelf or platform in the west; central hinge or shelf/slope break; and deep basinal part in the east and southeast. Kolkata is located atop the western part of the hinge zone which is about 25 km (16 mi) wide at a depth of about 45,000 m (148,000 ft) below the surface.[56] The shelf and hinge zones have many faults, among them some are active. Total thickness of sediment below Kolkata is nearly 7,500 m (24,600 ft) above the crystalline basement; of these the top 350–450 m (1,150–1,480 ft) is Quaternary, followed by 4,500–5,500 m (14,760–18,040 ft) of Tertiary sediments, 500–700 m (1,640–2,300 ft) trap wash of Cretaceous trap and 600–800 m (1,970–2,620 ft) Permian-Carboniferous Gondwana rocks.[56] The quaternary sediments consist of clay, silt, and several grades of sand and gravel. These sediments are sandwiched between two clay beds: the lower one at a depth of 250–650 m (820–2,130 ft); the upper one 10–40 m (30–130 ft) in thickness.[57] According to the Bureau of Indian Standards, on a scale ranging from I to V in order of increasing susceptibility to earthquakes, the city lies inside seismic zone III.[58]
Urban structure
Howrah Bridge from the western bank of the Ganges
The Kolkata metropolitan area is spread over 1,886.67 km2 (728.45 sq mi)[59]:7 and comprises 3 municipal corporations (including Kolkata Municipal Corporation), 39 local municipalities and 24 panchayat samitis, as of 2011.[59]:7 The urban agglomeration encompassed 72 cities and 527 towns and villages, as of 2006.[60] Suburban areas in the Kolkata metropolitan area incorporate parts of the following districts: North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, and Nadia.[61]:15 Kolkata, which is under the jurisdiction of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), has an area of 185 km2 (71 sq mi).[60] The east–west dimension of the city is comparatively narrow, stretching from the Hooghly River in the west to roughly the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass in the east—a span of 9–10 km (5.6–6.2 mi).[62] The north–south distance is greater, and its axis is used to section the city into North, Central, and South Kolkata. East Kolkata is also a section.
North Kolkata is the oldest part of the city. Characterised by 19th-century architecture, dilapidated buildings, overpopulated slums, crowded bazaars, and narrow alleyways, it includes areas such as Shyambazar, Hatibagan, Maniktala, Kankurgachi, Rajabazar, Shobhabazar, Shyampukur, Sonagachi, Kumortuli, Bagbazar, Jorasanko, Chitpur, Pathuriaghata, Cossipore, Kestopur, Sinthee, Belgachia, Jorabagan, and Dum Dum.[63]:65–66 The northern suburban areas like Baranagar, Durganagar, Noapara, Dunlop, Dakshineswar, Nagerbazar, Belghoria, Agarpara, Sodepur, Madhyamgram, Barasat, Birati, Khardah up to Barrackpur are also within the city of Kolkata (as a metropolitan structure).
Central Kolkata
Central Kolkata hosts the central business district. It contains B. B. D. Bagh, formerly known as Dalhousie Square, and the Esplanade on its east; Strand Road is on its west.[64] The West Bengal Secretariat, General Post Office, Reserve Bank of India, High Court, Lalbazar Police Headquarters, and several other government and private offices are located there. Another business hub is the area south of Park Street, which comprises thoroughfares such as Chowringhee, Camac Street, Wood Street, Loudon Street, Shakespeare Sarani, and A. J. C. Bose Road.[65] The Maidan is a large open field in the heart of the city that has been called the "lungs of Kolkata"[66] and accommodates sporting events and public meetings.[67] The Victoria Memorial and Kolkata Race Course are located at the southern end of the Maidan. Other important areas of Central Kolkata are Park Circus, Burrabazar, College Street, Sealdah, Taltala, Janbazar, Bowbazar, Entally, Chandni Chowk, Lalbazar, Chowringhee, Dharmatala, Tiretta Bazar, Bow Barracks, Mullick Bazar, Park Circus, Babughat etc. Among the other parks are Central Park in Bidhannagar and Millennium Park on Strand Road, along the Hooghly River.
South Kolkata
South Kolkata developed after India gained independence in 1947; it includes upscale neighbourhoods such as Ballygunge, Alipore, New Alipore, Lansdowne, Bhowanipore, Kalighat, Dhakuria, Gariahat, Tollygunge, Naktala, Jodhpur Park, Lake Gardens, Golf Green, Jadavpur, Garfa, Kalikapur, Haltu, Nandi Bagan, Santoshpur, Baghajatin, Garia, Ramgarh, Raipur, Kanungo Park, Ranikuthi, Bikramgarh, Bijoygarh, Bansdroni and Kudghat.[16] Outlying areas of South Kolkata include Garden Reach, Khidirpur, Metiabruz, Taratala, Majerhat, Budge Budge, Behala, Sarsuna, Barisha, Parnasree Pally, Thakurpukur, Maheshtala and Joka. The southern suburban neighbourhoods like Mahamayatala, Pratapgarh, Kamalgazi, Narendrapur, Sonarpur, Subhashgram and Baruipur are also within the city of Kolkata (as metropolitan, urban agglomeration area). Fort William, on the western part of the city, houses the headquarters of the Eastern Command of the Indian Army;[68] its premises are under the jurisdiction of the army.
East Kolkata
East Kolkata is largely composed of newly developed areas and neighbourhoods of Saltlake, Rajarhat, Tangra, Topsia, Kasba, Anandapur, Mukundapur, Picnic Garden, Beleghata, Ultadanga, Phoolbagan, Kaikhali, Lake Town, etc. Two planned townships in the greater Kolkata region are Bidhannagar, also known as Salt Lake City and located north-east of the city; and Rajarhat, also called New Town and sited east of Bidhannagar.[16][69] In the 2000s, Sector V in Bidhannagar developed into a business hub for information technology and telecommunication companies.[70][71] Both Bidhannagar and New Town are situated outside the Kolkata Municipal Corporation limits, in their own municipalities.[69]
Climate
Kolkata is subject to a tropical wet-and-dry climate that is designated Aw under the Köppen climate classification. According to a United Nations Development Programme report, its wind and cyclone zone is "very high damage risk".[58]
Temperature
The annual mean temperature is 26.8 °C (80.2 °F); monthly mean temperatures are 19–30 °C (66–86 °F). Summers (March–June) are hot and humid, with temperatures in the low 30s Celsius; during dry spells, maximum temperatures often exceed 40 °C (104 °F) in May and June.[72] Winter lasts for roughly two-and-a-half months, with seasonal lows dipping to 9–11 °C (48–52 °F) in December and January. May is the hottest month, with daily temperatures ranging from 27–37 °C (81–99 °F); January, the coldest month, has temperatures varying from 12–23 °C (54–73 °F). The highest recorded temperature is 43.9 °C (111.0 °F), and the lowest is 5 °C (41 °F).[72] The winter is mild and very comfortable weather pertains over the city throughout this season. Often, in April–June, the city is struck by heavy rains or dusty squalls that are followed by thunderstorms or hailstorms, bringing cooling relief from the prevailing humidity. These thunderstorms are convective in nature, and are known locally as kal bôishakhi (কালবৈশাখী), or "Nor'westers" in English.[73]
Rains brought by the Bay of Bengal branch of the south-west summer monsoon[74] lash Kolkata between June and September, supplying it with most of its annual rainfall of about 1,850 mm (73 in). The highest monthly rainfall total occurs in July and August. In these months often incessant rain for days brings live to a stall for the city dwellers. The city receives 2,528 hours of sunshine per year, with maximum sunlight exposure occurring in March.[75] Kolkata has been hit by several cyclones; these include systems occurring in 1737 and 1864 that killed thousands.[76][77]
Environmental issues
Pollution is a major concern in Kolkata. As of 2008, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide annual concentration were within the national ambient air quality standards of India, but respirable suspended particulate matter levels were high, and on an increasing trend for five consecutive years, causing smog and haze.[80][81] Severe air pollution in the city has caused a rise in pollution-related respiratory ailments, such as lung cancer.[82]
Economy
Kolkata is the main commercial and financial hub of East and North-East India[61] and home to the Calcutta Stock Exchange.[83][84] It is a major commercial and military port, and is the only city in eastern India, apart from Bhubaneswar to have an international airport. Once India's leading city, Kolkata experienced a steady economic decline in the decades following India's independence due to steep population increases and a rise in militant trade-unionism, which included frequent strikes that were backed by left-wing parties.[52] From the 1960s to the late 1990s, several factories were closed and businesses relocated.[52] The lack of capital and resources added to the depressed state of the city's economy and gave rise to an unwelcome sobriquet: the "dying city".[85] The city's fortunes improved after the Indian economy was liberalised in the 1990s and changes in economic policy were enacted by the West Bengal state government.[52]
Flexible production has been the norm in Kolkata, which has an informal sector that employs more than 40% of the labour force.[16] One unorganised group, roadside hawkers, generated business worth ₹ 8,772 crore (US$ 2 billion) in 2005.[86] As of 2001, around 0.81% of the city's workforce was employed in the primary sector (agriculture, forestry, mining, etc.); 15.49% worked in the secondary sector (industrial and manufacturing); and 83.69% worked in the tertiary sector (service industries).[61]:19 As of 2003, the majority of households in slums were engaged in occupations belonging to the informal sector; 36.5% were involved in servicing the urban middle class (as maids, drivers, etc.), and 22.2% were casual labourers.[87]:11 About 34% of the available labour force in Kolkata slums were unemployed.[87]:11 According to one estimate, almost a quarter of the population live on less than 27 rupees (equivalent to 45 US cents) per day.[88] As of 2010, Kolkata, with an estimated gross domestic product (GDP) by purchasing power parity of 150 billion dollars, ranked third among South Asian cities, after Mumbai and Delhi.[89] Kolkata's GDP in 2014 was Rs 1.84 trillion, according to a collaborative assessment by multiple universities and climate agencies.[90] As in many other Indian cities, information technology became a high-growth sector in Kolkata starting in the late 1990s; the city's IT sector grew at 70% per annum—a rate that was twice the national average.[52] The 2000s saw a surge of investments in the real estate, infrastructure, retail, and hospitality sectors; several large shopping malls and hotels were launched.[91][92][93][94][95] Companies such as ITC Limited, CESC Limited, Exide Industries, Emami, Eveready Industries India, Lux Industries, Rupa Company, Berger Paints, Birla Corporation and Britannia Industries are headquartered in the city. Philips India, PricewaterhouseCoopers India, Tata Global Beverages, Tata Steel have their registered office and zonal headquarters in Kolkata. Kolkata hosts the headquarters of three major public-sector banks: Allahabad Bank, UCO Bank, and the United Bank of India; and a private bank Bandhan Bank. Reserve Bank of India has its eastern zonal office in Kolkata, and India Government Mint, Kolkata is one of the four mints in India.
Panoramic view of the Down town Sector V one of the major IT hubs of Kolkata as seen from the lakes surrounding Bidhannagar. Major Buildings such as Technopolis, Godrej Waterside, TCS Lords, Eden and Wanderers Park, Gobsyn Crystal, South City Pinnacle, RDB Boulevard, West Bengal Electronics Industry Development Corporation (WEBEL) Bhawan can be seen.
Demographics
See also: Ethnic communities in Kolkata
A skyline consisting of several high-rise buildings
Residential high-rise buildings in South City
A slum area of the city
The demonym for residents of Kolkata are Calcuttan and Kolkatan.[96][97] According to provisional results of the 2011 national census, Kolkata district, which occupies an area of 185 km2 (71 sq mi), had a population of 4,486,679;[98] its population density was 24,252/km2 (62,810/sq mi).[98] This represents a decline of 1.88% during the decade 2001–11. The sex ratio is 899 females per 1000 males—lower than the national average.[99] The ratio is depressed by the influx of working males from surrounding rural areas, from the rest of West Bengal; these men commonly leave their families behind.[100] Kolkata's literacy rate of 87.14%[99] exceeds the national average of 74%.[101] The final population totals of census 2011 stated the population of city as 4,496,694.[8] The urban agglomeration had a population of 14,112,536 in 2011.[9]
Bengali Hindus form the majority of Kolkata's population; Marwaris, Biharis and Muslims compose large minorities.[102] Among Kolkata's smaller communities are Chinese, Tamils, Nepalis, Odias, Telugus, Assamese, Gujaratis, Anglo-Indians, Armenians, Greeks, Tibetans, Maharashtrians, Konkanis, Malayalees, Punjabis, and Parsis.[26]:3 The number of Armenians, Greeks, Jews, and other foreign-origin groups declined during the 20th century.[103] The Jewish population of Kolkata was 5,000 during World War II, but declined after Indian independence and the establishment of Israel;[104] by 2013, there were 25 Jews in the city.[105] India's sole Chinatown is in eastern Kolkata;[103] once home to 20,000 ethnic Chinese, its population dropped to around 2,000 as of 2009[103] as a result of multiple factors including repatriation and denial of Indian citizenship following the 1962 Sino-Indian War, and immigration to foreign countries for better economic opportunities.[106] The Chinese community traditionally worked in the local tanning industry and ran Chinese restaurants.[103][107]
Kolkata urban agglomeration population growth Census Total %±
1981 9,194,000 —
1991 11,021,900 19.9%
2001 13,114,700 19.0%
2011 14,112,536 7.6%
Source: Census of India[9]
Others include Sikhism, Buddhism & Other religions (0.03%)
Religion in Kolkata[108]
Religion Percent
Hinduism
76.51%
Islam
20.60%
Christianity
0.88%
Jainism
0.47%
Others
1.54%
Bengali, the official state language, is the dominant language in Kolkata.[109] English is also used, particularly by the white-collar workforce. Hindi and Urdu are spoken by a sizeable minority.[110][111] According to the 2011 census, 76.51% of the population is Hindu, 20.60% Muslim, 0.88% Christian, and 0.47% Jain.[112] The remainder of the population includes Sikhs, Buddhists, and other religions which accounts for 0.45% of the population; 1.09% did not state a religion in the census.[112] Kolkata reported 67.6% of Special and Local Laws crimes registered in 35 large Indian cities during 2004.[113] The Kolkata police district registered 15,510 Indian Penal Code cases in 2010, the 8th-highest total in the country.[114] In 2010, the crime rate was 117.3 per 100,000, below the national rate of 187.6; it was the lowest rate among India's largest cities.[115]
As of 2003, about one-third of the population, or 1.5 million people, lived in 3,500 unregistered squatter-occupied and 2,011 registered slums.[87]:4[116]:92 The authorised slums (with access to basic services like water, latrines, trash removal by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation) can be broadly divided into two groups—bustees, in which slum dwellers have some long term tenancy agreement with the landowners; and udbastu colonies, settlements which had been leased to refugees from present-day Bangladesh by the Government.[116][87]:5 The unauthorised slums (devoid of basic services provided by the municipality) are occupied by squatters who started living on encroached lands—mainly along canals, railway lines and roads.[116]:92[87]:5 According to the 2005 National Family Health Survey, around 14% of the households in Kolkata were poor, while 33% lived in slums, indicating a substantial proportion of households in slum areas were better off economically than the bottom quarter of urban households in terms of wealth status.[117]:23 Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for founding and working with the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata—an organisation "whose primary task was to love and care for those persons nobody was prepared to look after".[118]
Government and public services
Civic administration
Main article: Civic administration of Kolkata
A red-and-yellow building with multiple arches and towers standing against a backdrop of blue sky and framed by trees
Calcutta High Court
Kolkata is administered by several government agencies. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation, or KMC, oversees and manages the civic infrastructure of the city's 15 boroughs, which together encompass 141 wards.[109] Each ward elects a councillor to the KMC. Each borough has a committee of councillors, each of whom is elected to represent a ward. By means of the borough committees, the corporation undertakes urban planning and maintains roads, government-aided schools, hospitals, and municipal markets.[119] As Kolkata's apex body, the corporation discharges its functions through the mayor-in-council, which comprises a mayor, a deputy mayor, and ten other elected members of the KMC.[120] The functions of the KMC include water supply, drainage and sewerage, sanitation, solid waste management, street lighting, and building regulation.[119]
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation was ranked 1st out of 21 Cities for best governance & administrative practices in India in 2014. It scored 4.0 on 10 compared to the national average of 3.3.[121]
The Kolkata Port Trust, an agency of the central government, manages the city's river port. As of 2012, the All India Trinamool Congress controls the KMC; the mayor is Firhad Hakim, while the deputy mayor is Atin Ghosh.[122] The city has an apolitical titular post, that of the Sheriff of Kolkata, which presides over various city-related functions and conferences.[123]
Kolkata's administrative agencies have areas of jurisdiction that do not coincide. Listed in ascending order by area, they are: Kolkata district; the Kolkata Police area and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation area, or "Kolkata city";[124] and the Kolkata metropolitan area, which is the city's urban agglomeration. The agency overseeing the latter, the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority, is responsible for the statutory planning and development of greater Kolkata.[125]
As the seat of the Government of West Bengal, Kolkata is home to not only the offices of the local governing agencies, but also the West Bengal Legislative Assembly; the state secretariat, which is housed in the Writers' Building; and the Calcutta High Court. Most government establishments and institutions are housed in the centre of the city in B. B. D. Bagh (formerly known as Dalhousie Square). The Calcutta High Court is the oldest High Court in India. It was preceded by the Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William which was established in 1774. The Calcutta High Court has jurisdiction over the state of West Bengal and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Kolkata has lower courts: the Court of Small Causes and the City Civil Court decide civil matters; the Sessions Court rules in criminal cases.[126][127][128] The Kolkata Police, headed by a police commissioner, is overseen by the West Bengal Ministry of Home Affairs.[129][130] The Kolkata district elects two representatives to India's lower house, the Lok Sabha, and 11 representatives to the state legislative assembly.[131]
Utility services
A telecommunications tower belonging to services provider Tata Communications
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation supplies the city with potable water that is sourced from the Hooghly River;[132] most of it is treated and purified at the Palta pumping station located in North 24 Parganas district.[133] Roughly 95% of the 4,000 tonnes of refuse produced daily by the city is transported to the dumping grounds in Dhapa, which is east of the town.[134][135] To promote the recycling of garbage and sewer water, agriculture is encouraged on the dumping grounds.[136] Parts of the city lack proper sewerage, leading to unsanitary methods of waste disposal.[75]
Electricity is supplied by the privately operated Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation, or CESC, to the city proper; the West Bengal State Electricity Board supplies it in the suburbs.[137][138] Fire services are handled by the West Bengal Fire Service, a state agency.[139] As of 2012, the city had 16 fire stations.[140]
State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, or BSNL, as well as private enterprises, among them Vodafone, Bharti Airtel, Reliance, Idea Cellular, Aircel, Tata DoCoMo, Tata Teleservices, Virgin Mobile, and MTS India, are the leading telephone and cell phone service providers in the city.[141]:25–26:179 with Kolkata being the first city in India to have cell phone and 4G connectivity, the GSM and CDMA cellular coverage is extensive.[142][143] As of 2010, Kolkata has 7 percent of the total Broadband internet consumers in India; BSNL, VSNL, Tata Indicom, Sify, Airtel, and Reliance are among the main vendors.[144][145]
Military and diplomatic establishments
The Eastern Command of the Indian Army is based in the city. Being one of India's major city and the largest city in eastern and north-eastern India, Kolkata hosts diplomatic missions of many countries such as Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Canada, People's Republic of China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Srilanka, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom and United States. The U.S Consulate in Kolkata is the US Department of State's second oldest Consulate and dates from 19 November 1792.[146]
Transport
Public transport is provided by the Kolkata Suburban Railway, the Kolkata Metro, trams, rickshaws, and buses. The suburban rail network reaches the city's distant suburbs.
According to a 2013 survey conducted by the International Association of Public Transport, in terms of a public transport system, Kolkata ranks among the top of the six Indian cities surveyed.[147][148] The Kolkata Metro, in operation since 1984, is the oldest underground mass transit system in India.[149] It spans the north–south length of the city and covers a distance of 25.1 km (16 mi).[150] As of 2009, five Metro rail lines were under construction.[151] Kolkata has four long-distance railway stations, located at Howrah (the largest railway complex in India), Sealdah, Chitpur and Shalimar, which connect Kolkata by rail to most cities in West Bengal and to other major cities in India.[152] The city serves as the headquarters of three railway Zone out of Seventeen of the Indian Railways regional divisions—the Kolkata Metro Railways, Eastern Railway and the South-Eastern Railway.[153] Kolkata has rail and road connectivity with Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.[154][155][156]
Buses, which are the most commonly used mode of transport, are run by government agencies and private operators.[157] Kolkata is the only Indian city with a tram network, which is operated by the Calcutta Tramways Company.[158] The slow-moving tram services are restricted to certain areas of the city. Water-logging, caused by heavy rains that fall during the summer monsoon, can interrupt transportation networks.[159][160] Hired public conveyances include auto rickshaws, which often ply specific routes, and yellow metered taxis. Almost all of Kolkata's taxis are antiquated Hindustan Ambassadors by make; newer air-conditioned radio taxis are in service as well.[161][162] In parts of the city, cycle rickshaws and hand-pulled rickshaws are patronised by the public for short trips.[163]
Due to its diverse and abundant public transportation, privately owned vehicles are not as common in Kolkata as in other major Indian cities.[164] The city has witnessed a steady increase in the number of registered vehicles; 2002 data showed an increase of 44% over a period of seven years.[165] As of 2004, after adjusting for population density, the city's "road space" was only 6% compared to 23% in Delhi and 17% in Mumbai.[166] The Kolkata Metro has somewhat eased traffic congestion, as has the addition of new roads and flyovers. Agencies operating long-distance bus services include the Calcutta State Transport Corporation, the South Bengal State Transport Corporation, the North Bengal State Transport Corporation, and various private operators. The city's main bus terminals are located at Esplanade and Babughat.[167] The Kolkata–Delhi and Kolkata–Chennai prongs of the Golden Quadrilateral, and National Highway 34 start from the city.[168]
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, located in Dum Dum some 16 km (9.9 mi) north-east of the city centre, operates domestic and international flights. In 2013, the airport was upgraded to handle increased air traffic.[169][170]
The Port of Kolkata, established in 1870, is India's oldest and the only major river port.[171] The Kolkata Port Trust manages docks in Kolkata and Haldia.[172] The port hosts passenger services to Port Blair, capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands; freighter service to ports throughout India and around the world is operated by the Shipping Corporation of India.[171][173] Ferry services connect Kolkata with its twin city of Howrah, located across the Hooghly River.[174][175]
The route from North Bengal to Kolkata is set to become cheaper and more efficient for people travelling by bus. Through April 2017 to March 2018, the North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC) will be introducing a fleet of rocket buses equipped with bio-toilets for the bus route.[176]
Healthcare
See also: Health care in Kolkata
A big building in cream colour with many columns and a portico
Calcutta Medical College, the second institution in Asia to teach modern medicine(after 'Ecole de Médicine de Pondichéry')
IPGMER and SSKM Hospital, Kolkata is the largest hospital in West Bengal and one of the oldest in Kolkata.
As of 2011, the health care system in Kolkata consists of 48 government hospitals, mostly under the Department of Health & Family Welfare, Government of West Bengal, and 366 private medical establishments;[177] these establishments provide the city with 27,687 hospital beds.[177] For every 10,000 people in the city, there are 61.7 hospital beds,[178] which is higher than the national average of 9 hospital beds per 10,000.[179] Ten medical and dental colleges are located in the Kolkata metropolitan area which act as tertiary referral hospitals in the state.[180][181] The Calcutta Medical College, founded in 1835, was the first institution in Asia to teach modern medicine.[182] However, These facilities are inadequate to meet the healthcare needs of the city.[183][184][185] More than 78% in Kolkata prefer the private medical sector over the public medical sector,[117]:109 due to the poor quality of care, the lack of a nearby facility, and excessive waiting times at government facilities.[117]:61
According to the Indian 2005 National Family Health Survey, only a small proportion of Kolkata households were covered under any health scheme or health insurance.[117]:41 The total fertility rate in Kolkata was 1.4, The lowest among the eight cities surveyed.[117]:45 In Kolkata, 77% of the married women used contraceptives, which was the highest among the cities surveyed, but use of modern contraceptive methods was the lowest (46%).[117]:47 The infant mortality rate in Kolkata was 41 per 1,000 live births, and the mortality rate for children under five was 49 per 1,000 live births.[117]:48
Among the surveyed cities, Kolkata stood second (5%) for children who had not had any vaccinations under the Universal Immunization Programme as of 2005.[117]:48 Kolkata ranked second with access to an anganwadi centre under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme for 57% of the children between 0 and 71 months.[117]:51 The proportion of malnourished, anaemic and underweight children in Kolkata was less in comparison to other surveyed cities.[117]:54–55
About 18% of the men and 30% of the women in Kolkata are obese—the majority of them belonging to the non-poor strata of society.[117]:105 In 2005, Kolkata had the highest percentage (55%) among the surveyed cities of anaemic women, while 20% of the men in Kolkata were anaemic.[117]:56–57 Diseases like diabetes, asthma, goitre and other thyroid disorders were found in large numbers of people.[117]:57–59 Tropical diseases like malaria, dengue and chikungunya are prevalent in Kolkata, though their incidence is decreasing.[186][187] Kolkata is one of the districts in India with a high number of people with AIDS; it has been designated a district prone to high risk.[188][189]
As of 2014, because of higher air pollution, the life expectancy of a person born in the city is four years fewer than in the suburbs.[190]
Education
Kolkata's schools are run by the state government or private organisations, many of which are religious. Bengali and English are the primary languages of instruction; Urdu and Hindi are also used, particularly in central Kolkata.[191][192] Schools in Kolkata follow the "10+2+3" plan. After completing their secondary education, students typically enroll in schools that have a higher secondary facility and are affiliated with the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education, the ICSE, or the CBSE.[191] They usually choose a focus on liberal arts, business, or science. Vocational programs are also available.[191] Some Kolkata schools, for example La Martiniere Calcutta, Calcutta Boys' School, St. James' School (Kolkata), St. Xavier's Collegiate School, and Loreto House, have been ranked amongst the best schools in the country.[193]
Indian Institute of Foreign Trade
As of 2010, the Kolkata urban agglomeration is home to 14 universities run by the state government.[194] The colleges are each affiliated with a university or institution based either in Kolkata or elsewhere in India. Aliah University which was founded in 1780 as Mohammedan College of Calcutta is the oldest post-secondary educational institution of the city.[195] The University of Calcutta, founded in 1857, is the first modern university in South Asia.[196] Presidency College, Kolkata (formerly Hindu College between 1817 and 1855), founded in 1855, was one of the oldest and most eminent colleges in India. It was affiliated with the University of Calcutta until 2010 when it was converted to Presidency University, Kolkata in 2010. Bengal Engineering and Science University (BESU) is the second oldest engineering institution of the country located in Howrah.[197] An Institute of National Importance, BESU was converted to India's first IIEST. Jadavpur University is known for its arts, science, and engineering faculties.[198] The Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, which was the first of the Indian Institutes of Management, was established in 1961 at Joka, a locality in the south-western suburbs. Kolkata also houses the prestigious Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, which was started here in the year 2006.[199] The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences is one of India's autonomous law schools,[200][201] and the Indian Statistical Institute is a public research institute and university. State owned Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology, West Bengal (MAKAUT, WB), formerly West Bengal University of Technology (WBUT) is the largest Technological University in terms of student enrollment and number of Institutions affiliated by it. Private institutions include the Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute and University of Engineering & Management (UEM).
Notable scholars who were born, worked or studied in Kolkata include physicists Satyendra Nath Bose, Meghnad Saha,[202] and Jagadish Chandra Bose;[203] chemist Prafulla Chandra Roy;[202] statisticians Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis and Anil Kumar Gain;[202] physician Upendranath Brahmachari;[202] educator Ashutosh Mukherjee;[204] and Nobel laureates Rabindranath Tagore,[205] C. V. Raman,[203] and Amartya Sen.[206]
Kolkata houses many premier research institutes like Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS), Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (IICB), Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Bose Institute, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (SINP), All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute (CGCRI), S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences (SNBNCBS), Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management (IISWBM), National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Kolkata, Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC) and Indian Centre for Space Physics. Nobel laureate Sir C. V. Raman did his groundbreaking work in Raman effect in IACS.
Culture
Kolkata is known for its literary, artistic, and revolutionary heritage; as the former capital of India, it was the birthplace of modern Indian literary and artistic thought.[207] Kolkata has been called the "City of Furious, Creative Energy"[208] as well as the "cultural [or literary] capital of India".[209][210] The presence of paras, which are neighbourhoods that possess a strong sense of community, is characteristic of the city.[211] Typically, each para has its own community club and, on occasion, a playing field.[211] Residents engage in addas, or leisurely chats, that often take the form of freestyle intellectual conversation.[212][213] The city has a tradition of political graffiti depicting everything from outrageous slander to witty banter and limericks, caricatures, and propaganda.[214][215]
Kolkata has many buildings adorned with Indo-Islamic and Indo-Saracenic architectural motifs. Several well-maintained major buildings from the colonial period have been declared "heritage structures";[216] others are in various stages of decay.[217][218] Established in 1814 as the nation's oldest museum, the Indian Museum houses large collections that showcase Indian natural history and Indian art.[219] Marble Palace is a classic example of a European mansion that was built in the city. The Victoria Memorial, a place of interest in Kolkata, has a museum documenting the city's history. The National Library of India is the leading public library in the country while Science City is the largest science centre in the Indian subcontinent.[220]
The popularity of commercial theatres in the city has declined since the 1980s.[221]:99[222] Group theatres of Kolkata, a cultural movement that started in the 1940s contrasting with the then-popular commercial theatres, are theatres that are not professional or commercial, and are centres of various experiments in theme, content, and production;[223] group theatres use the proscenium stage to highlight socially relevant messages.[221]:99[224] Chitpur locality of the city houses multiple production companies of jatra, a tradition of folk drama popular in rural Bengal.[225][226] Kolkata is the home of the Bengali cinema industry, dubbed "Tollywood" for Tollygunj, where most of the state's film studios are located.[227] Its long tradition of art films includes globally acclaimed film directors such as Academy Award-winning director Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Mrinal Sen, Tapan Sinha, and contemporary directors such as Aparna Sen, Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Goutam Ghose and Rituparno Ghosh.[228]
During the 19th and 20th centuries, Bengali literature was modernised through the works of authors such as Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam, and Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay.[229] Coupled with social reforms led by Ram Mohan Roy, Swami Vivekananda, and others, this constituted a major part of the Bengal Renaissance.[230] The middle and latter parts of the 20th century witnessed the arrival of post-modernism, as well as literary movements such as those espoused by the Kallol movement, hungryalists and the little magazines.[231] Large majority of publishers of the city is concentrated in and around College Street, "... a half-mile of bookshops and bookstalls spilling over onto the pavement", selling new and used books.[232]
Kalighat painting originated in 19th century Kolkata as a local style that reflected a variety of themes including mythology and quotidian life.[233] The Government College of Art and Craft, founded in 1864, has been the cradle as well as workplace of eminent artists including Abanindranath Tagore, Jamini Roy, and Nandalal Bose.[234] The art college was the birthplace of the Bengal school of art that arose as an avant garde and nationalist movement reacting against the prevalent academic art styles in the early 20th century.[235][236] The Academy of Fine Arts and other art galleries hold regular art exhibitions. The city is recognised for its appreciation of Rabindra sangeet (songs written by Rabindranath Tagore) and Indian classical music, with important concerts and recitals, such as Dover Lane Music Conference, being held throughout the year; Bengali popular music, including baul folk ballads, kirtans, and Gajan festival music; and modern music, including Bengali-language adhunik songs.[237][238] Since the early 1990s, new genres have emerged, including one comprising alternative folk–rock Bengali bands.[237] Another new style, jibonmukhi gaan ("songs about life"), is based on realism.[221]:105 Key elements of Kolkata's cuisine include rice and a fish curry known as machher jhol,[239] which can be accompanied by desserts such as roshogolla, sandesh, and a sweet yoghurt known as mishti dohi. Bengal's large repertoire of seafood dishes includes various preparations of ilish, a fish that is a favourite among Calcuttans. Street foods such as beguni (fried battered eggplant slices), kati roll (flatbread roll with vegetable or chicken, mutton, or egg stuffing), phuchka (a deep-fried crêpe with tamarind sauce) and Indian Chinese cuisine from Chinatown are popular.[240][241][242][243]
Though Bengali women traditionally wear the sari, the shalwar kameez and Western attire is gaining acceptance among younger women.[244] Western-style dress has greater acceptance among men, although the traditional dhoti and kurta are seen during festivals. Durga Puja, held in September–October, is Kolkata's most important and largest festival; it is an occasion for glamorous celebrations and artistic decorations.[245][246] The Bengali New Year, known as Poila Boishak, as well as the harvest festival of Poush Parbon are among the city's other festivals; also celebrated are Kali Puja, Diwali, Holi, Jagaddhatri Puja, Saraswati Puja, Rathayatra, Janmashtami, Maha Shivratri, Vishwakarma Puja, Lakshmi Puja, Ganesh Chathurthi, Makar Sankranti, Gajan, Kalpataru Day, Bhai Phonta, Maghotsab, Eid, Muharram, Christmas, Buddha Purnima and Mahavir Jayanti. Cultural events include the Rabindra Jayanti, Independence Day(15 August), Republic Day(26 January), Kolkata Book Fair, the Dover Lane Music Festival, the Kolkata Film Festival, Nandikar's National Theatre Festival, Statesman Vintage & Classic Car Rally and Gandhi Jayanti.
Media
See also: Kolkata in the media and List of Bengali-language television channels
A five storied building in cream colour with multiple columns in front
Akashvani Bhawan, the head office of state-owned All India Radio, Kolkata
The first newspaper in India, the Bengal Gazette started publishing from the city in 1780.[247] Among Kolkata's widely circulated Bengali-language newspapers are Anandabazar Patrika, Bartaman, Sangbad Pratidin, Aajkaal, Dainik Statesman and Ganashakti.[248] The Statesman and The Telegraph are two major English-language newspapers that are produced and published from Kolkata. Other popular English-language newspapers published and sold in Kolkata include The Times of India, Hindustan Times, The Hindu, The Indian Express, and the Asian Age.[248] As the largest trading centre in East India, Kolkata has several high-circulation financial dailies, including The Economic Times, The Financial Express, Business Line, and Business Standard.[248][249] Vernacular newspapers, such as those in the Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati, Odia, Punjabi, and Chinese languages, are read by minorities.[248][103] Major periodicals based in Kolkata include Desh, Sananda, Saptahik Bartaman, Unish-Kuri, Anandalok, and Anandamela.[248] Historically, Kolkata has been the centre of the Bengali little magazine movement.[250][251]
All India Radio, the national state-owned radio broadcaster, airs several AM radio stations in the city.[252] Kolkata has 12 local radio stations broadcasting on FM, including two from AIR.[253] India's state-owned television broadcaster, Doordarshan, provides two free-to-air terrestrial channels,[254] while a mix of Bengali, Hindi, English, and other regional channels are accessible via cable subscription, direct-broadcast satellite services, or internet-based television.[255][256][257] Bengali-language 24-hour television news channels include ABP Ananda, Tara Newz, Kolkata TV, 24 Ghanta, News Time and Channel 10.[258]
Sports
See also: Football in Kolkata, Kolkata Marathon, and Kolkata derby
Salt Lake Stadium during Indian Super League opening ceremony
The most popular sports in Kolkata are football and cricket. Unlike most parts of India, the residents show significant passion for football.[259] The city is home to top national football clubs such as Mohun Bagan A.C., East Bengal F.C., Prayag United S.C., and the Mohammedan Sporting Club.[260][261] Calcutta Football League, which was started in 1898, is the oldest football league in Asia.[262] Mohun Bagan A.C., one of the oldest football clubs in Asia, is the only organisation to be dubbed a "National Club of India".[263][264] Football matches between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal, dubbed as the Kolkata derby, witness large audience attendance and rivalry between patrons.[265]
A Twenty20 cricket match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Pune Warriors during Indian Premier League at the Eden Gardens
As in the rest of India, cricket is popular in Kolkata and is played on grounds and in streets throughout the city.[266][267] Kolkata has the Indian Premier League franchise Kolkata Knight Riders; the Cricket Association of Bengal, which regulates cricket in West Bengal, is also based in the city. Kolkata also has an Indian Super League franchise known as Atlético de Kolkata. Tournaments, especially those involving cricket, football, badminton, and carrom, are regularly organised on an inter-locality or inter-club basis.[211] The Maidan, a vast field that serves as the city's largest park, hosts several minor football and cricket clubs and coaching institutes.[268]
Eden Gardens, which has a capacity of 68,000 as of 2017,[269] hosted the final match of the 1987 Cricket World Cup. It is home to the Bengal cricket team and the Kolkata Knight Riders.
The multi-use Salt Lake Stadium, also known as Yuva Bharati Krirangan, is India's largest stadium by seating capacity. Most matches of the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup were played in the Salt Lake Stadium including both Semi-Final matches and the Final match. Kolkata also accounted for 45% of total attendance in 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup with an average of 55,345 spectators.[270] The Calcutta Cricket and Football Club is the second-oldest cricket club in the world.[271][272]
Kolkata's Netaji Indoor Stadium served as host of the 1981 Asian Basketball Championship, where India's national basketball team finished 5th, ahead of teams that belong to Asia's basketball elite, such as Iran. The city has three 18-hole golf courses. The oldest is at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club, the first golf club built outside the United Kingdom.[273][274] The other two are located at the Tollygunge Club and at Fort William. The Royal Calcutta Turf Club hosts horse racing and polo matches.[275] The Calcutta Polo Club is considered the oldest extant polo club in the world.[276][277][278] The Calcutta Racket Club is a squash and racquet club in Kolkata. It was founded in 1793, making it one of the oldest rackets clubs in the world, and the first in the Indian subcontinent.[279][280] The Calcutta South Club is a venue for national and international tennis tournaments; it held the first grass-court national championship in 1946.[281][282] In the period 2005–2007, Sunfeast Open, a tier-III tournament on the Women's Tennis Association circuit, was held in the Netaji Indoor Stadium; it has since been discontinued.[283][284]
The Calcutta Rowing Club hosts rowing heats and training events. Kolkata, considered the leading centre of rugby union in India, gives its name to the oldest international tournament in rugby union, the Calcutta Cup.[285][286][287] The Automobile Association of Eastern India, established in 1904,[288][289] and the Bengal Motor Sports Club are involved in promoting motor sports and car rallies in Kolkata and West Bengal.[290][291] The Beighton Cup, an event organised by the Bengal Hockey Association and first played in 1895, is India's oldest field hockey tournament; it is usually held on the Mohun Bagan Ground of the Maidan.[292][293] Athletes from Kolkata include Sourav Ganguly and Pankaj Roy, who are former captains of the Indian national cricket team; Olympic tennis bronze medallist Leander Paes, golfer Arjun Atwal, and former footballers Sailen Manna, Chuni Goswami, P. K. Banerjee, and Subrata Bhattacharya.
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COVID-19 IN B.C. AT A GLANCE
• New cases in the last 24 hours: 542
• Total number of confirmed cases: 81,909 (4,654 active)
• Total deaths: 1,372 (seven new)
• Total vaccinations: 289,809 (86,616 second doses)
• Hospitalized cases: 246
• Intensive care: 64
• Cases under public health monitoring: 8,617
• Recovered: 75,819
• Long-term care and assisted-living homes, and acute care facilities currently affected: 15
Advisory body recommends four-month wait for second COVID-19 vaccine dose
A national panel of vaccine experts recommended earlier today that the interval for second doses of COVID-19 vaccines can be extended to four months given limited supply.
In a bulletin posted to Public Health Canada’s website, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization said it was taking the decision because of the need to maximize the number of individuals who get an early first dose.
B.C. announced Monday it would use this strategy, which has its critics and also does not adhere to the recommendations of the drug manufacturers of the vaccines Canada is currently administering, including Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.