The Bangla Academy is the official regulatory body of the Bengali language in Bangladesh. It is an autonomous institution funded by the Government of Bangladesh that fosters the Bengali language, literature and culture, works to develop and implement national language policy and conducts original research in Bengali. Established in 1955, it is located in the Burdwan House in Shahbagh, Dhaka, within the grounds of the University of Dhaka and Suhrawardy Udyan. The Bangla Academy hosts the annual Ekushey Book Fair.
Mamata Banerjee is an Indian politician who is serving as the eighth and current chief minister of the Indian state of West Bengal since 20 May 2011, the first woman to hold the office. Having served multiple times as a Union Cabinet Minister, Mamata Banerjee became the Chief Minister of West Bengal for the first time in 2011. She founded the All India Trinamool Congress in 1998 after separating from the Indian National Congress, and became its second chairperson later in 2001. She often refers to herself as Didi.
The Bangla Academy Literary Award is given by the Bangla Academy of Bangladesh in recognition of creative genius in advancement and overall contribution in the field of Bengali language and literature.
The International Kolkata Book Fair is a winter fair in Kolkata. It is a unique book fair in the sense of not being a trade fair—the book fair is primarily for the general public rather than whole-sale distributors. It is the world's largest non-trade book fair, Asia's largest book fair and the most attended book fair. It is the world's third-largest annual conglomeration of books after the Frankfurt Book Fair and the London Book Fair. Many Kolkatans consider the book fair an inherent part of Kolkata, and instances of people visiting the fair every day during its duration are not uncommon. The fair offers a typical fairground experience with a book flavour—with picnickers, singer-songwriters, and candy floss vendors. With a total footfall of over 2 million people, it is world's largest book fair by attendance.
Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty is a Hindustani classical vocalist, composer, lyricist and an exponent of the Patiala-Kasur gharana. He was awarded with the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award in India in 2020 and the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in India in 2011.
The Pashchimbanga Bangla Akademi is the official regulatory body of the Bengali language in India. It was founded on 20 May 1986 in Kolkata to act as the official authority of the language and is entrusted with the responsibility of reforming Bengali spelling and grammar, compiling dictionaries, encyclopedias and terminologies and promoting Bengali language and culture in West Bengal. They are widely accepted by the Governments of West Bengal and Tripura as well as a considerable number of private publishing houses and institutions such as the Oxford University Press and the Ramakrishna Mission.
Suchitra Mitra was an Indian singer, composer, artist exponent of Rabindra Sangeet or the songs of Bengal's poet laureate Rabindranath Tagore, professor, and the first woman Sheriff of Kolkata. As an academic, she remained a professor and the Head of Rabindra Sangeet Department at the Rabindra Bharati University until 1984. Mitra was a playback singer in Bengali films and was associated for many years with the Indian People's Theatre Association.
Tarun Majumdar was an Indian film director, documentary filmmaker, author, illustrator and screenwriter who is known for his work in Bengali cinema. He received five National Awards, seven BFJA Awards, five Filmfare Awards and an Anandalok Award. In 1990, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award. He is recognized as one of the greatest influential filmmakers of India. His few movies were restored and digitized by the National Film Archive of India, along with his Contemporaries Arabinda Mukhopadhyay, Goutam Ghose. He is Legendary filmmaker for Ganadevata in 1978, Nimantran in 1971,Palatak in 1963.
The Ananda Puraskar is an award for Bengali literature awarded annually by the ABP Group to writers using Bengali, usually from West Bengal, India.
Rachna Banerjee is an Indian actress, entrepreneur, television presenter and politician. She is known primarily for her works in Bengali and Odia films, besides a few Telugu, Tamil, and Kannada films.
Anandalok Puraskar or Anandalok Awards ceremony is an award ceremony for Bengali film in India. The Anandalok, only film magazine in Bengali language, published from Ananda Publishers and Ananda Bazar Patrika presents this award (Puraskar). The magazine was started on 25 January 1975 and the awards ceremony was started in 1998.
Bratyabrata Basu Roy Chowdhury, also known as Bratya Basu, is an Indian actor, stage director, playwright, film director, professor and politician who has been the Education Minister of West Bengal since 2021. He has also assumed the same office in the First Mamata Banerjee ministry. In May 2016, Basu was assigned the portfolios of Tourism, Science Technology and Bio-Technology, and Information Technology and Electronics. He has been elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly, from the Dum Dum constituency since the 2011 Assembly Election of West Bengal. Basu is presently the Chairperson of Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi and Minerva Natyasanskriti Charchakendra under the governance of the Department of Information and Cultural Affairs, West Bengal.
Banga Bibhushan Samman is a title instituted by the West Bengal government to honour the services of personalities in various fields. The Banga Ratna Samman and the Banga Bhushan Samman awards are also granted.
Paschim Banga Natya Akademi is a learned society for drama and theatre in West Bengal, India. Established on 26 September 1987, it is a wing of the Department of Information and Cultural Affairs, Government of West Bengal. The aim of this society is to develop skill and expertise, to document and archive the history of Bengali theatre, to disseminate information, to understand theories, as well as to promote and project significant creativity in the field.
Joy Bangla is a slogan and was a war cry used in Bangladesh and in the Indian state of West Bengal to indicate nationalism towards the geopolitical, cultural and historical region of Bengal and Bangamata. It translates roughly to "Victory to Bengal" or "Hail Bengal".
Bankim Puraskar is the highest award given by the Government of West Bengal for contribution to Bengali fiction. The award was instituted in 1975 in memory of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, a famous Bengali novelist of the 19th century. It has been brought under the aegis of Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi, functioning under the Department of Information & Cultural Affairs, in 2003. The award is handed over by the Chief Minister of West Bengal.
Gopeshwar Banerjee or Gopeshwar Bandopadhyay (1880–1963) was an Indian classical singer and musicologist, belonging to Bishnupur gharana of Hindustani music, which originated in Bishnupur in West Bengal. He was known for his khyal and dhrupad renditions, besides Rabindra Sangeet. He also sang thumri, and most notably the thumri, Kon Gali Gayo Shyam, in Raga Mishra Khamaj, which he popularised. As a musicologist, he published several books of rare compositions with musical notations, including dhrupad and Rabindra Sangeet.
Subhamita Banerjee is an Indian Bengali singer who specializes in modern songs, Ghazals etc. She has many Bengali albums to her credit and is one of the well-known singers in the Bengali music industry.
Khudiram Das was an Indian scholar, educationist, critic, litterateur, an authority on Rabindra literature and linguistic expert.
