Volume on 200 years of Raj Bhavan ready for release

 The Raj Bhavan enjoys a special place in history because it was the seat of the crucial decisions of the empire that shaped modern India. The council room witnessed decisions relating to public projects like the railway and telegraph networks, the canal system, development of ports etc, besides imposition of taxes under the empire, an eminent historian commented.

 The 140-page volume, edited by Ina Puri and sponsored by Bajaj Auto through the efforts of Rahul Bajaj, has chapters by eminent historians of the city and of colonial India, along with litterateurs and a former resident of the building.

 In one chapter, architect Prabir Mitra has traced the history of the design and architecture of the building to Kedleston Hall in Derbyshire, England, the hereditary residence of the Lord Scarsdale. His successor, Lord Curzon, occupied the building as viceroy a hundred years after its construction.

 Since March 2000, the building has been thoroughly renovated and restored by the present governor of West Bengal, industrialist Viren J Shah. Among Shah