ওরা সামাজিক দূরত্ব বজায় না রাখলেই দুনিয়ার বিপদ
এমনিতে শান্তশিষ্ট, অমিশুক এবং লাজুক। কিন্তু মস্তিষ্কে সেরোটোনিনের ক্ষরণ বাড়লেই সর্বনাশ! তক্ষুনি দল বেঁধে লাফিয়ে পড়বে পঙ্গপালের ঝাঁক। প্রাচীন মিশরে ‘ডেজ়ার্ট লোকাস্ট’-এর প্রমাণ পাওয়া যায় কবরের দেওয়ালে আঁকা ছবি থেকে।
আক্রমণ: রাজস্থানের জয়পুরে পঙ্গপালের ঝাঁক এ ভাবেই ছেয়ে ফেলেছে আকাশ। ছবি: পিটিআই
শতাব্দী অধিকারী
শেষ আপডেট: ৩১ মে ২০২০ ০০:০৭
উফ! পিছনের পা-টা আবার ঘষা খেল পাশেরটার সঙ্গে। পেটটাও ঘষা খাচ্ছে। ভিড় বড্ড বেড়ে গিয়েছে। যে দিকে তাকাও গিজগিজ করছে সবুজ মাথা। খাবারও কমে এসেছে। যে কোনও মুহূর্তে ঝাঁপিয়ে পড়তে পারে ঘাড়ে। তার পর ধড় থেকে মুন্ডু ছিঁড়ে খেতে সময় নেবে না। সজাগ থাকতে হবে। দেখতে হবে সামনের জন কী করছে। ওই তো, এগোচ্ছে গুটি গুটি। পিছু নিতে হবে। প্রাণে বাঁচতে হলে মিছিলে পা মেলানোই রীতি। এ বার বোধহয় উড়বে। পিছনে পিলপিল এগিয়ে আসছে সব। এ বার উড়তে হবেই।
‘ক্যানিবালিজ়ম’। খাদ্যাভাবে বা স্বভাববশে স্বজাতির সদস্যদের খেয়ে ফেলা— বিশেষ ধরনের কয়েকটা ঘাসফড়িং প্রজাতির বৈশিষ্ট্য। কোনও এলাকায় এই ধরনের ঘাসফড়িংয়ের সংখ্যা অতিরিক্ত বেড়ে গেলে এরা একে অপরকে খেতে শুরু করে। প্রাণ বাঁচাতে প্রত্যেকেই উড়ে পালাতে চায়। এক জন উড়লে, পিছু নেয় এক জন। তাকে দেখে আর এক জন, আরও। ক্রমে তৈরি হয় ঝাঁক বা ‘সোয়ার্ম’। ‘লোকাস্ট সোয়ার্ম’— পঙ্গপালের ঝাঁক।
২০১৮-র শেষ দিকে দক্ষিণ আরবের মরু অঞ্চলে জন্ম নেওয়া পঙ্গপালের এমন একটা ঝাঁক কয়েক প্রজন্ম পেরিয়ে এগোতে এগোতে ভারতের উত্তর-পশ্চিম সীমান্ত পেরিয়েছে সম্প্রতি। রাজস্থান, গুজরাত, উত্তরপ্রদেশে খেতের পর খেত উজাড় করে দিচ্ছে। কী এই পঙ্গপাল? কেনই বা এরা এ রকম ঝাঁকে ঝাঁকে ওড়ে? এত ফসল খেয়ে নষ্ট করে?
১৮৭৪ সাল। জুলাইয়ের শেষ দিক। আমেরিকার কানসাসে দুপুর রোদে বাড়ির বাইরে কুয়ো থেকে জল তুলছিল বছর বারোর একটা মেয়ে। হঠাৎ তার মনে হল, সূর্যের তেজ যেন ঝিমিয়ে পড়ল ঝুপ করে। প্রায় সঙ্গে সঙ্গেই কানে এল ভয়ঙ্কর গুঞ্জন। সে চমকে তাকাল আকাশে। মাটি আর আকাশের মধ্যে তখন ধূসর-সবুজ এক চাদর। বেশি ক্ষণ ওই অবস্থায় দাঁড়িয়ে থাকার সুযোগ পায়নি সে। আকাশ থেকে তার গায়ে, হাতে পায়ে, কুয়োয়, তার বাড়ির দেওয়ালে, জানলায়, বাগানের বেড়ায় ঝাঁপিয়ে পড়েছিল হাজার হাজার পঙ্গপাল।
পৃথিবী বহু বার পঙ্গপালের আক্রমণের সাক্ষী থেকেছে। প্রাচীন মিশরে ‘ডেজ়ার্ট লোকাস্ট’-এর প্রমাণ পাওয়া যায় কবরের দেওয়ালে আঁকা ছবি থেকে। গ্রিক মহাকাব্য ‘দ্য ইলিয়াড’-এ হোমার পঙ্গপালের উল্লেখ করেছেন। ১৮৭৫ সালে আমেরিকার নেব্রাস্কায় ১১০ মাইল বিস্তৃত, আধ মাইল পুরু ‘রকি মাউন্টেন লোকাস্ট’-এর পরিযাণ দেখেছিলেন নেব্রাস্কার চিকিৎসক ও আবহাওয়াবিদ অ্যালবার্ট চাইল্ড। পরবর্তী কালে সেই পঙ্গপালের পরিযানের নাম দেওয়া হয়েছে ‘অ্যালবার্ট সোয়ার্ম’। ভারতেও হানা দিয়েছে তিন ধরনের পঙ্গপাল— ‘ডেজ়ার্ট লোকাস্ট’, ‘মাইগ্রেটরি লোকাস্ট’ ও ‘বম্বে লোকাস্ট’। ‘সহজ পাঠ’-এর দ্বিতীয় ভাগে রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর লিখেছেন, ‘‘এবার পঙ্গপাল এসে বড়ো ক্ষতি করেছে। ক্ষিতিবাবুর ক্ষেতে একটি ঘাস নেই। অক্ষয়বাবুর বাগানে কপির পাতাগুলো খেয়ে সাঙ্গ ক’রে দিয়েছে। পঙ্গপাল না তাড়াতে পারলে এবার কাজে ভঙ্গ দিতে হবে।’’ ‘পঙ্গপাল’ শব্দের সঙ্গে বাঙালির পরিচয় নতুন নয়।
‘সোয়ার্মিং বিহেভিয়ার’ বিশেষ কয়েকটি প্রজাতির ঘাসফড়িংয়ের জিনগত বৈশিষ্ট্য। পতঙ্গ গোষ্ঠীর যে কোনও প্রাণীই অনুকূল পরিবেশে খুব কম সময়ের মধ্যে দ্রুত বংশবিস্তার করে। সেই সংখ্যাধিক্যের ভারসাম্য রক্ষায় সময়ের সঙ্গে সঙ্গে তাদের কিছু বাহ্যিক ও আচরণগত বৈশিষ্ট্যও বিবর্তিত হয়। সেই বৈশিষ্ট্য জিনগত ভাবে সঞ্চারিত হয় পরবর্তী প্রজন্মে। ভিড় বাড়লে বা খাদ্যসঙ্কট দেখা দিলে ‘ক্যানিবাল’ হয়ে ওঠা তেমন একটা বৈশিষ্ট্য। তা এড়াতে ঝাঁক বেঁধে খাদ্যের সন্ধানে ওড়াটাও।
ঝাঁক বাঁধার পদ্ধতি বুঝতে এই পতঙ্গ সম্পর্কে একটা ধারণা হওয়া দরকার। পঙ্গপাল, ঘাসফড়িং বা গঙ্গাফড়িং— তিনটেই কিন্তু একই ধরনের পতঙ্গের বিভিন্ন নাম। তবে সব ঘাসফড়িং বা গঙ্গাফড়িংকেই পঙ্গপাল বলা যায় না। ওই যেমন ছোটবেলায় পড়েছি, ‘সব ক্ষারই ক্ষারক, কিন্তু সকল ক্ষারক ক্ষার নয়’। পতঙ্গ শ্রেণির ‘অ্যাক্রিডিডি’ ফ্যামিলির ছোট শুঁড়বিশিষ্ট কুড়িটির মতো বিশেষ প্রজাতির ঘাসফড়িং, যারা বিশেষ পরিস্থিতিতে ঝাঁক তৈরি করে, তাদের পঙ্গপাল বলা হয়।
ঝাঁকে ঝাঁকে এসে নিমেষে খেতের ফসল সাবাড় করে দেখে মনে হতে পারে, ঝাঁকে থাকাটাই বোধহয় পঙ্গপালের ধর্ম। কিন্তু তা নয়। এরা প্রকৃতিগত ভাবে লাজুক। একা থাকতেই পছন্দ করে। নিতান্ত জৈবিক প্রয়োজন ছাড়া সমগোত্রীয় ঘাসফড়িংয়ের ধারেকাছেও ঘেঁষে না। গায়ের রং সবুজ, হলুদ, বাদামি মেশানো হওয়ায় গাছের পাতায় বা ডালে দিব্যি লুকিয়ে থাকতে পারে। এতে শিকারির হাত থেকে যেমন বাঁচা যায়, তেমনই ‘ক্যানিবালিজ়ম’ এড়াতে ‘সোশ্যাল ডিসস্ট্যান্সিং’ও বজায় রাখা হয়।
তবে শুধু ‘ক্যানিবাল’ হয়ে ওঠাই এই অপ্রয়োজনীয় সংখ্যাধিক্যের একমাত্র ফলাফল নয়। পতঙ্গের ঘনত্ব ঘাসফড়িংয়ের মধ্যে আরও লক্ষণীয় কিছু পরিবর্তন ঘটায়। যেমন, রং, যা ফ্যাকাসে হলুদ-সবুজ থেকে বাদামি ঘেঁষা হয়ে যায়; আকার, যা বড় হয় এবং দেহ শক্তিশালী হয়; মস্তিষ্ক আকারে বাড়ে, মস্তিষ্কে ‘সেরোটোনিন’-এর ক্ষরণ বাড়ে, যার প্রভাব পড়ে আচরণে। যেখানে এরা পরস্পরের সঙ্গে দূরত্ব বজায় রাখত, সেখানে অতিরিক্ত সেরোটোনিন-এর প্রভাবে পরস্পরের কাছাকাছি আসতে চায়। প্রজননের সম্ভাবনা বাড়ে। যদিও তখন জানা থাকে না, এই ‘কাছাকাছি’ এসে ভিড় বাড়ানোই ভবিষ্যতে ‘ক্যানিবাল’ হওয়ার রাস্তা চওড়া করবে।
যাই হোক, এই পরিবর্তিত দশায় এই ঘাসফড়িংদের ‘মেটাবলিক রেট’ও বেড়ে যায়। ফলে আগের চেয়ে এরা খায় অনেক বেশি। শুধু তা-ই নয়, স্বাদ বা পুষ্টিগুণেরও ধার ধারে না। যা পায় খচমচ করে চিবোতে থাকে। আচরণগত এই ধরনের পরিবর্তন ভিড় বাড়ার কয়েক ঘণ্টার মধ্যেই প্রকাশ পেতে পারে ঘাসফড়িংদের মধ্যে। হঠাৎ করেই এরা শান্ত অবস্থা থেকে অস্থির হয়ে ওঠে।
নির্দিষ্ট কিছু পরিবেশগত অবস্থা, যেমন, তাপমাত্রা, আর্দ্রতা, খাদ্যাভাব, জনঘনত্ব ইত্যাদির নিরিখে কিছু কিছু প্রাণীর মধ্যে একাধিক রূপভেদ তৈরি হয়, যাদের বলা হয় ‘ফেনোটাইপিক ফর্ম’। আমরা অনেক সময় এদের ‘সামার ফর্ম’, ‘উইন্টার ফর্ম’ ইত্যাদি বলে থাকি। প্রাণীদের এই একাধিক রূপভেদ থাকার বৈশিষ্ট্যকে ‘ফেনোটাইপিক প্লাস্টিসিটি’ বলা হয়। যে ধরনের ঘাসফড়িং পঙ্গপাল হয়ে ওঠার ক্ষমতা রাখে, তাদের মধ্যে এই ‘ফেনোটাইপিক প্লাস্টিসিটি’ দেখা যায়।
এ বার ধরে নেওয়া যাক ‘ডেজ়ার্ট লোকাস্ট’-এর কথা। ‘ডেজ়ার্ট লোকাস্ট’ বা ‘সিস্টোসার্কা গ্রিগেরিয়া’ দক্ষিণ আরব ভূখণ্ডের মরুপ্রায় অঞ্চলের স্থায়ী বাসিন্দা। রুক্ষ শুষ্ক এলাকায় এমনিতেই গাছপালা কম। তাই সে সব খেয়ে বেঁচে থাকা ঘাসফড়িংয়ের সংখ্যাও কম। এই অবস্থা অবশ্যই ‘সলিটেরিয়াস ফর্ম’-এ থাকার উপযুক্ত।
কিন্তু কী হবে, যদি অবস্থা আরও গুরুতর হয়ে যায়! অর্থাৎ, পরিবেশ যখন আরও রুক্ষ ও শুষ্ক হয়ে ওঠে। তখন জল কমে, তাপমাত্রা বেড়ে যায়। কমে যায় গাছপালার সংখ্যা। এ রকম পরিস্থিতিতে ঘাসফড়িংদের খাদ্যসঙ্কটের সম্ভাবনা দেখা দেয়। তখন খাবারের চাহিদা মেটাতে বেঁচে থাকা গুটিকতক গাছে এসে জড়ো হয় ওরা। পারস্পরিক দূরত্ব কমে, ঘেঁষাঘেঁষি বাড়ে। মস্তিষ্কে ক্ষরিত হয় অতিরিক্ত সেরোটোনিন। আর ঠিক এমন শুষ্ক রুক্ষ পরিস্থিতির পরে যদি হঠাৎ করে বৃষ্টি হয়, তা হলে তো কথাই নেই। অনুকূল পরিবেশ পেয়ে তখন ঘাসফড়িং প্রজননে মন দেয়। ডিম ফুটে বেরয় নতুন প্রজন্মের অপরিণত ঘাসফড়িং বা ‘নিম্ফ’। তখন তাদের মধ্যেও ঘেঁষাঘেঁষি বাড়ে। পাশাপাশি থাকা ঘাসফড়িংয়ের পায়ে পায়ে ঘষা লেগে ‘ট্যাকটাইল সিগন্যাল’ পৌঁছতে থাকে ওদের মস্তিষ্কে। ওরা বুঝে যায়, ভিড় খুব বেড়ে গিয়েছে। এ বার এগোতে হবে।
অপ্রাপ্তবয়স্ক ‘নিম্ফ’-দের ডানা থাকে না। তাই এরা উড়তে পারে না। এ দিকে ভিড় বেড়ে যাওয়ায় খাদ্যসঙ্কট এবং ক্যানিবালিজ়ম-এর ভয় থাকেই। অতএব, সারি সারি নিম্ফ একত্রে তৈরি করে ‘মার্চিং ব্যান্ড’। হাঁটতে থাকে মাইলের পর মাইল। হাঁটার পথে এরা ঘাস, গাছ, খেতের ফসল, যা পায় খেতে থাকে। কারণ খিদে তো তখন তুঙ্গে। এক সময় এই ‘নিম্ফ’ পূর্ণাঙ্গ ঘাসফড়িংয়ে পরিণত হয়, যোগ দেয় ঝাঁকের সঙ্গে। এগিয়ে যায় উষ্ণ বাতাসের অভিমুখ ধরে খাবারের সন্ধানে।
আরব থেকে ইরান, পাকিস্তান হয়ে যে পঙ্গপালের ঝাঁক ভারতে ঢুকেছে, তার সূত্রপাত কিন্তু ২০১৮ সালের মে মাসে। সেই সময় দক্ষিণ আরবীয় মরু অঞ্চলে ধেয়ে এসেছিল সাইক্লোন ‘মেকুনু’। যার জেরে এই অঞ্চলে ভারী বৃষ্টিপাত হয়। রুক্ষ আবহাওয়ার পরে এই অতিবৃষ্টির জেরে এখানকার ‘ডেজ়ার্ট লোকাস্ট’ অতিরিক্ত বংশবৃদ্ধি করে। তার পরে অক্টোবরে ‘লুবান’ সাইক্লোনের জেরে ফের ভারী বৃষ্টি হলে পঙ্গপালের সংখ্যা প্রায় আট হাজার গুণ বেড়ে যায়।
পঙ্গপালের সংখ্যার এই বিস্ফোরণের অন্যতম প্রধান কারণ হিসেবে জলবায়ু পরিবর্তনকেই দায়ী করছেন বিজ্ঞানীরা। তাঁদের দাবি, বিশ্ব উষ্ণায়নের জেরে ক্রমাগত বাড়তে থাকা মহাসাগরীয় জলতলের উষ্ণতা একাধিক শক্তিশালী সাইক্লোনের জন্ম দিচ্ছে। এ ছাড়া, তাপমাত্রা আর অসময়ে ভারী বৃষ্টিও পঙ্গপালের সংখ্যাধিক্যের সহায়ক। পঙ্গপালের যাত্রাপথে একাধিক বার ভারী বৃষ্টিপাত হলে তাদের সংখ্যাও উত্তরোত্তর বেড়েছে।
বিপদ নাকি এখনও বাকি। হয়তো কোনও ভাবে পঙ্গপালের মিছিল এ যাত্রা রুখে দেওয়া যাবে। কিন্তু শুধু এ বছর নয়, বিজ্ঞানীরা বলছেন, বিশ্ব উষ্ণায়নের জেরে ভারত মহাসাগরে সাইক্লোন ভবিষ্যতেও তৈরি হবে, এবং এ ভাবেই শুষ্ক রুক্ষ ঋতুর পরে প্রবল বৃষ্টি পঙ্গপালের সংখ্যা ফের হু-হু করে বাড়িয়ে দেবে, যা নিয়ন্ত্রণ করা কঠিন হয়ে পড়বে। ওরা হেঁটে যাবে মাঠের পর মাঠ। উড়ে পেরিয়ে যাবে এক পঞ্চমাংশ পৃথিবী। পিছনে পড়ে থাকবে লুণ্ঠন-পরবর্তী শূন্য শস্যভাণ্ডার।
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হাসপাতাল থেকে পার্টি অফিসে ফিরলেন সিপিএম নেতা বিমান বসু, আপাতত থাকতে হবে বিশ্রামে
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পুলিশকর্মীদের আঘাত করে পালিয়েও নিস্তার মিলল না, কালনায় গ্রেফতার আট ‘গরুচোর’!
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রাসচক্র ঘুরিয়ে শুক্রবার কোচবিহারের মদনমোহন মন্দিরে রাস উৎসবের সূচনা করলেন জেলাশাসক
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These Terms of Use govern your use of the websites, content and community services offered through www.anandabazar.com , other associated URLs ("Site") and all mobile applications ("Mobile Apps") and products and services offered by ABP Pvt Ltd.
"You" and / or "Your" and / or "User" shall include and mean the person who is accessing the aforesaid website www.anandabazar.com through any means available now and / or maybe available in the future.
You (the user) agree to access "the Site" and "Mobile Apps", subject to the terms and conditions of use as set out here.
ABP Pvt.Ltd., the owner and / or publisher of www.anandabazar.com may add to or change or update these Terms of Use, from time to time entirely at the its own discretion. You are responsible for checking these Terms of Use periodically to remain in compliance with these terms. Your use of a Site after any amendment to the Terms of Use shall constitute your acceptance of these terms and you also agree to be bound by any such changes/revisions. By using this site you hereby represent and warrant that you are hereby bound by these Terms of Use and it's any amendments thereof and further represent that you are more than 18 (eighteen) years of age and otherwise competent to bound yourself into a valid contract as per the Laws of India. In the event you are below the age of 18 (eighteen) years then it shall be deemed that you are using this site under the guidance and supervision of your natural parent and / or guardian.
Governing Law and Meanings:-
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Changes
ABP Pvt. LTD. reserves the right to suspend / cancel, or discontinue any or all channels, products or service at any time without notice , make modifications and alterations in any or all of the content, products and services contained on the site without prior notice. Such changes will be posted to "www.anandabazar.com" for your reference and convenience so as to enable you to understand your responsibility as a user.
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If ABP Pvt. Ltd. reasonably believes that an account and Password is being used / misused in any manner, ABP Pvt. Ltd. shall reserve the right to cancel access rights immediately without notice, and block access to all users from that IP address.
Furthermore, you are entirely responsible for any and all activities that occur under your account. You agree to notify ABP Pvt. Ltd. immediately of any unauthorized use of your account or any other breach of security. ABP Pvt. Ltd. will not be liable for any loss that you may incur as a result of someone else using your password or account. However, you could be held liable for losses incurred by ABP PVT. LTD. or another party due to someone else using your account or password.
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As a condition of your use of the Services, you will not use the Services for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by these terms, conditions, and notices. You may not use the Services in any manner that could damage, disable, overburden, or impair any ABP PVT. LTD.'s server, or the network(s) connected to any ABP PVT. LTD.'s server, or interfere with any other party's use and enjoyment of any Services. You may not attempt to gain unauthorized access to any Services, other accounts, computer systems or to any of the Services, through hacking, password mining or any other means. You may not obtain or attempt to obtain any materials or information through any means not intentionally made available through the Services.
Material Posted/transmitted at www.anandabazar.com by the user and /or any third party:
All information, data, text, software, music, sound, photographs, graphics, video, messages or other materials ("Content"), whether publicly or privately transmitted / posted, is the sole responsibility of the person from where such content is originated (the Originator). By Posting any material which contain images, photographs, pictures or that are otherwise graphical in whole or in part ("Images"), you warrant and represent that (a) you are the copyright owner of such Images, or that the copyright owner of such Images has granted you permission to use such Images or any content and/or images contained in such Images consistent with the manner and purpose of your use and as otherwise permitted by these Terms of Use and the Services, (b) you have the rights necessary to grant the licenses and sublicenses described in these Terms of Use, and (c) that each person depicted in such Images, if any, has provided consent to the use of the Images as set forth in these Terms of Use, including, by way of limitation, the distribution, public display and reproduction of such Images.
You represent that you have valid rights and title in any and all Content/Images that you submit on the Site, that you have not infringed on any IPR belonging to any party and further that you will indemnify ABP PVT. LTD or its affiliates for all claims arising out of any content that you post on the Site.
ABP PVT. LTD. accepts no responsibility for the said Content / Images. However, you understand that all Content / Images posted by you becomes the property of ABP PVT. LTD. and you agree to grant/assign to ABP PVT. LTD. and its affiliates, a non-exclusive, royalty free, perpetual, irrevocable and sub-licenseable right to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, perform and display such Content / Images (in whole or part) worldwide and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form, media, or technology now known or later developed throughout the world".
Limitations of Liabilities
Any transactions relating to sale/purchase of goods or services not directly offered by ABP PVT. LTD. are to be settled inter-se between the parties to such transaction and all warranties express or implied of any kind, regarding any matter pertaining thereto, including without limitation the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement are disclaimed by ABP PVT. LTD.
ABP PVT. LTD. merely endeavors to provide a platform where you and other party may interact, exchange information or carry out sale/purchase transactions on such terms and in the manner mutually agreed between you and the other party. ABP PVT. LTD. does not have any involvement in the actual transactions between the buyers and sellers in any way. It is only you, who is entirely responsible for all the activities, arising out of the transactions of sale/purchase of goods or services offered by any other party and not ABP PVT. LTD. ABP PVT. LTD. will not be liable for any loss that you may incur, while selling or purchasing goods /services of the third party.
Under No circumstances will ABP PVT. LTD. be held responsible or liable, in any way, for any content which in Legal opinion is derogatory, threatening, defamatory, obscene or offensive or offends public sensibilities or morals and shall also not assume liability for any errors or omissions in any content, or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any content posted or uploaded on the Site, or any infringement of another's rights, including intellectual property rights. You specifically agree that ABP PVT. LTD. is not responsible for any content sent using and/or included in ABP PVT. LTD.'s site/service by any third party.
Individual Registration and Access
Certain Services offered by the Company through www.anandazar.com platform, such as email, personal web pages, contests and shopping, require prior registration by the User. To gain access to such Services, You will be required to create an account by completing the registration process. As part of such registration process, You will be required to provide Us with current, complete and accurate information pertaining to such details as prompted by the applicable registration form. You will also be required to choose a unique password and a user name, which shall be entered by You every time You wish to gain access to the said Services. You shall not be entitled to gain, and shall not facilitate, access to www.anandabazar.com platform through a single account and password, by multiple users on a network. You agree and understand that We do not permit any part of www.anandabazar.com platform being cached in proxy servers. You are entirely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of Your password and account.
If the Company reasonably believes that Your account and/or Password is being/ has been misused in any manner, the Company shall reserve the right to cancel access rights immediately without notice, and block access to all users from that IP address.
You shall not share your account information and password with others or use anyone else’s account. You are entirely responsible for any and all activities that occur under Your account. You agree to notify us immediately of any unauthorized use of your account or any other breach of security. In such an event, we shall do our best to help you recover your account; however, we cannot guarantee that your account will be restored or the content contained therein will be recovered. We will not be liable for any loss that you may incur as a result of unauthorized use of your password or account. However, you could be held liable for losses incurred by the Company or another party due to someone else using your account or password.
International Users
You agree and understand that the Services are controlled and operated by the Company from its offices in India. You agree that: (i) the Services shall be deemed solely based in India; and (ii) the use of the Services do not give rise to personal jurisdiction over the Company, either specific or general, in jurisdictions other than India. You agree that the laws of India, excluding India’s choice of law rules, will apply to this Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and all other policies and guidelines provided by the Company and to the provision of Services by the Company.
Access to www.anandabazar.com platform and/ or the Services from jurisdictions other than India where the same are illegal is prohibited. The Company reserves the right to block access to www.anandabazar.com platform and/ or the Services by such prohibited access by international users. If you access www.anandabazar.com platform and/ or the Services from a location outside India, you waive any right available under laws of jurisdictions outside of India.
Individual Registration and Access
Certain Services offered by the Company through www.anandazar.com platform, such as email, personal web pages, contests and shopping, require prior registration by the User. To gain access to such Services, You will be required to create an account by completing the registration process. As part of such registration process, You will be required to provide Us with current, complete and accurate information pertaining to such details as prompted by the applicable registration form. You will also be required to choose a unique password and a user name, which shall be entered by You every time You wish to gain access to the said Services. You shall not be entitled to gain, and shall not facilitate, access to www.anandabazar.com platform through a single account and password, by multiple users on a network. You agree and understand that We do not permit any part of www.anandabazar.com platform being cached in proxy servers. You are entirely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of Your password and account.
If the Company reasonably believes that Your account and/or Password is being/ has been misused in any manner, the Company shall reserve the right to cancel access rights immediately without notice, and block access to all users from that IP address.
You shall not share your account information and password with others or use anyone else’s account. You are entirely responsible for any and all activities that occur under Your account. You agree to notify us immediately of any unauthorized use of your account or any other breach of security. In such an event, we shall do our best to help you recover your account; however, we cannot guarantee that your account will be restored or the content contained therein will be recovered. We will not be liable for any loss that you may incur as a result of unauthorized use of your password or account. However, you could be held liable for losses incurred by the Company or another party due to someone else using your account or password.
International Users
You agree and understand that the Services are controlled and operated by the Company from its offices in India. You agree that: (i) the Services shall be deemed solely based in India; and (ii) the use of the Services do not give rise to personal jurisdiction over the Company, either specific or general, in jurisdictions other than India. You agree that the laws of India, excluding India’s choice of law rules, will apply to this Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and all other policies and guidelines provided by the Company and to the provision of Services by the Company.
Access to www.anandabazar.com platform and/ or the Services from jurisdictions other than India where the same are illegal is prohibited. The Company reserves the right to block access to www.anandabazar.com platform and/ or the Services by such prohibited access by international users. If you access www.anandabazar.com platform and/ or the Services from a location outside India, you waive any right available under laws of jurisdictions outside of India.
Termination of Account
ABP PVT. LTD. reserves its right to refuse service, restrict, suspend, terminate your account; (Terminate this Agreement; Terminate or suspend your access to the ABP Web Sites; Refuse, move or remove for any reason any Content / Image that you submit on or through the Services; Refuse, move, or remove any Content / Image that is available on or through the Services; Deactivate or delete your accounts and all related information and files in your account; Establish general practices and limits concerning use of the Services) at any time and, remove or edit contents or cancel orders (entered by you) in its sole discretion with or without cause, and with or without any prior notice for any violation of the Terms of Use. Upon such termination or suspension, your right to use the ABP PVT. Ltd.'s Web Sites will immediately cease.
You can terminate Your account at any time by writing to service@anandabazar.com but your information may remain stored in archive on Our servers even after the deletion or the termination of Your account.
User Conduct and Obligations
You hereby agree and assure ABP PVT. Ltd. that the Site/Services shall be used for lawful purposes only and that you will not violate laws, regulations, ordinances or other such requirements of any applicable Central, State or local government or any other international laws. You further concur that you will not, through Site/Service:
• post, distribute, or otherwise make available or transmit any software or other computer files that contain a virus trojan horses, time bombs, bots, botnets, malicious content, content theft, data manipulation, threats or any other harmful programs or elements or component;
• delete from the Site any legal notices, disclaimers, or proprietary notices such as copyright or trademark symbols, or modify any logos that you do not own or have express permission to modify;
• not use the Site / Service in any manner that could damage, disable, overburden, or impair and not to undertake any action which is harmful or potentially harmful to any ABP PVT. LTD.'s server, or the network(s), computer systems / resource connected to any ABP PVT. LTD. server, or interfere with any other party's use and enjoyment of the Site/Service;
• obtain or attempt to obtain any materials or information through any means not intentionally made available through the Site/Service;
• engage in any activity that causes / may harm minors; or
• perform any activity which is likely to cause such harm;
• impersonate any person or entity, including, but not limited to, ABP PVT. LTD.'s official, forum leader, guide or host, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity;
• take any action which encourages or consists of any threat of harm of any kind to any person or property;
• carry out any "denial of service" (DoS, DDoS) or any other harmful attacks on application or internet service or;
• make any inappropriate, illegal or otherwise prohibited communication to any Newsgroup, Mailing List, Chat Facility, or other Internet Forum;
• use the Site/Service for illegal purposes;
• disrupt, place unreasonable burdens or excessive loads on, interfere with or attempt to make or attempt any unauthorized access to any ABP PVT. LTD website or the website of any ABP PVT.LTD.'s customer;
• transmit through the Site, any unlawful, harassing, libelous, abusive, threatening, harmful, vulgar, obscene, libelous, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable material of any kind or nature. This includes text, graphics, video, programs or audio, etc;
• collect or attempt to collect personally identifiable information of any person or entity without their express written consent and you shall maintain records of any such written consent throughout the terms of this agreement and for a period of 2 years thereafter;
• engage in antisocial, disruptive, or destructive acts, including "flaming," "spamming," "flooding," "trolling," and "griefing" as those terms are commonly understood and used on the Internet
• forge headers or otherwise manipulate identifiers in order to disguise the origin of any content transmitted through the Site.
• upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any unsolicited or unauthorised advertising, promotional materials, "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes," duplicative messages or any other form of solicitation.
• encumber or suffer to exist any lien or security interest on the subject matter of this Agreement; or
• make any representation or warranty on behalf of ABP PVT. LTD.
You agree not to post, distribute, transmit or otherwise make available any data, text, message, computer file, or other material that infringes and/or violates any right of a third party or any domestic or international law, rule, or regulation, including but not limited to:
• infringement of any copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, or other proprietary rights of any third party, including, but not limited to, the unauthorized copying of copyrighted material, the digitization and distribution of photographs from magazines, books, or other copyrighted sources, and the unauthorized transmittal of copyrighted software;
• Right of privacy (specifically, you must not distribute another person's personal information of any kind without their express permission) or publicity;
• Any confidentiality obligation.
Unless otherwise permitted, you will: (i) display the Service on your Site in the exact form received by you, and not modify or edit any of the foregoing without ABP PVT. Ltd.'s prior written consent; (ii) ensure that the fundamental meaning of the Service is not changed or distorted; (iii) comply with all applicable laws and all limitations and restrictions (if any) placed by ABP PVT. Ltd. on the use, display or distribution of any Service and (iv) not archive any of the Service for access by users at any future date after the Service has been removed from your Web site. You acknowledge that the service must link and redirect to the appropriate ABP PVT. Ltd.'s Web page when a user clicks on the Service (e.g. a headline). You shall not display the Service in such a manner that does not allow for successful linking and redirection to, and delivery of, ABP PVT. Ltd.'s Web page, nor may you frame any ABP PVT. Ltd.'s Web page.
No Controlling Spam Policy or Unsolicited E-mails
You will not use any communication tool or other means available on the Site to transmit, directly or indirectly, any unsolicited bulk communications (including emails and instant messages). You may not harvest information about users of ABP PVT. LTD. for the purpose of sending or to facilitate the sending of unsolicited bulk communications. We may terminate your access or use of the Site immediately, with or without any notice, and take any other legal action if you, or anyone using your access details to the Site, violates these terms. We may adopt any technical remedy (including any filtering technology or other measures) to prevent unsolicited bulk communications from entering, or remaining within our computer or communication networks. Such filtering technology or other measures may block, either temporarily or permanently, some e-mail sent to you through the ABP PVT. Ltd.'s Web Sites.
Disclaimer of Warranties and Liability
limitation, the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, workmanlike effort, title and non-infringement are disclaimed and excluded.
ABP PVT. Ltd. and its parent, affiliates and associates shall not be liable, at any time for any, direct, indirect, punitive, incidental, special, consequential, damages (including, without limitation, damages for loss of business projects, damage to your computer system or damages for loss of profits, damages for loss of use, data or profits, arising out of or in any way connected with the use or performance of the ABP PVT. Ltd.'s sites/services, with the delay or inability to use the ABP PVT. Ltd.'s sites/services or related services, the provision of or failure to provide services, or for any information, software, products, services and related graphics obtained through the ABP PVT. LTD. sites/services, or otherwise arising out of the use of the ABP PVT. LTD. sites/services) arising in contract, tort or otherwise from the use of or inability to use the Site, or any of its contents, or from any act or omissions a result of using the Site or any such contents or for any failure of performance, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, computer virus, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorised access to, alteration of, or use of information contained on the site. No representations, warranties or guarantees whatsoever are made by ABP PVT. LTD. as to the (a) accuracy, adequacy, reliability, completeness, suitability or applicability of the information to a particular situation; (b) that the service will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free; (c) the quality of any products, services, content, information, or other material purchased or obtained from the website will meet your expectations or requirements; or (d) any errors in the website will be corrected.
Links to Other Sites
All the contents of this Site are only for general information or use. They do not constitute advice and should not be relied upon in making (or refraining from making) any decision. Any specific advice or replies to queries in any part of the Site is/are the personal opinion of such experts/consultants/persons and are not subscribed to by this Site. The information from or through this site is provided on "AS IS" basis, and all warranties and conditions, expressed or implied of any kind, regarding any matter pertaining to any goods, service or channel, including without Certain links on the Site lead to resources located on servers maintained by third parties, these sites of third party(s) may contain ABP PVT. LTD.'s-logo, please understand that it is independent from ABP PVT. LTD., over whom ABP PVT. LTD. has no control or connection, business or otherwise as these sites are external to ABP PVT. LTD. You agree and understand that by visiting such sites you are beyond the ABP PVT. LTD.'s website. ABP PVT. LTD., therefore neither endorses nor offers any judgement or warranty and accepts no responsibility or liability for the authenticity, availability, suitability, reliability, accuracy of the information, software, products, services and related graphics contained, of any of the goods/services/or for any damage, loss or harm, direct or consequential or any violation of local or international laws that may be incurred by your visit and/or transaction/s on these site(s), as the same is provided on "as is" without warranty of any kind. ABP PVT. LTD. gives no warranty and makes no representation whether expressed or implied, that the information contained in this site is error free. ABP PVT. LTD. shall not be responsible nor liable for any consequential damages arising on account of your relying on the contents of the advertisement. Before relying on the material, users should independently verify its relevance for their purposes, and should obtain any appropriate professional advice.
Material Submitted by Users
Certain elements of the Site will contain material submitted by users. ABP PVT. LTD. accepts no responsibility for the content, accuracy, conformity to applicable laws of such material. You will indemnify and hold harmless ABP PVT. LTD. against all third party claims, demands and actions brought against ABP PVT. LTD. which arises from or relates to the material submitted by you.
Advertising Material
Part of the Site contains advertising information or promotion material or other material submitted to ABP PVT. LTD. by third parties. Responsibility for ensuring that material submitted for inclusion on Site complies with applicable International and National law is exclusively on the party providing the information/material. Your correspondence or business dealings with, or participation in promotions of, advertisers other than ABP PVT. LTD. found on or through the Website, including payment and delivery of related goods or services, and any other terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such dealings, are solely between You and such advertiser. ABP PVT. LTD. will not be responsible or liable for any claim, error, omission, inaccuracy in advertising material or any loss or damage of any sort incurred as the result of any such dealings or as the result of the presence of such non-ABP PVT. LTD. advertisers on the Website. ABP PVT. LTD. reserves the right to omit, suspend or change the position of any advertising material submitted for insertion. Acceptance of advertisements on the Site will be subject to these terms and conditions.
Data Protection
ABP PVT. LTD. may send information and offer products and services to you from time to time. For further details relating to our policy relating to such offer please refer to our privacy statement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, ABP PVT. LTD. reserves the right to disclose any information in response to / that it is required to be shared, disclosed or make made available to any governmental, administrative, regulatory or judicial authority under any law or regulation applicable to ABP PVT. LTD.
Further, ABP PVT. LTD. can (and you authorize ABP PVT. LTD. to) disclose your name, street address, city, state, zip code, country, phone number, email, and company name to Intellectual Property rights owners, as we in our sole discretion believe necessary or appropriate in connection with an investigation of fraud, intellectual property infringement, piracy, or other unlawful activity.
Relationship
None of the provisions of the User Agreement shall be deemed to constitute a partnership or agency between you and ABP PVT. LTD. and you shall have no authority to bind ABP PVT. LTD. in any manner, whatsoever.
Force Majeure
ABP PVT. LTD. shall have no liability to you for any interruption or delay, to access the Site irrespective of the cause.
Indian Law
The Agreement shall be governed by the Laws of India. The Courts of law at Kolkata, West Bengal, India shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any disputes arising under this agreement.
Entire Agreement
These Terms of Service constitute the entire agreement between the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersedes and replaces all prior or contemporaneous understandings or agreements, written or oral, regarding such subject matter.
Right to remove inappropriate messages
We reserve the right to remove any messages we deem to be inappropriate, i.e, racist, sexist or threatening. Messages using inappropriate language will also be removed. We do not wish to be censors, but our forums must remain civilized and respect the rights of others.
Limited time to bring your claim
You and ABP PVT. LTD. agree that any cause of action arising out of or related to the ABP PVT. LTD.'s web sites, only, must commence within one (1) year after the cause of action accrues otherwise, such cause of action will be permanently barred.
Acceptance of Terms & Conditions
By using ABP PVT. LTD.'s sites and services, you signify your acceptance of this Terms & Conditions. If you do not agree or are not comfortable with any term described in this Term & Conditions, your only remedy is to discontinue use of ABP PVT. LTD. sites. We reserve the right, to modify this Terns & Conditions at any time.
General Terms
Rights and obligations under the Terms which by their nature should survive will remain in full effect after termination or expiration of the Terms.
Any express waiver or failure to exercise promptly any right under the Terms will not create a continuing waiver or any expectation of non-enforcement.
If any provision of the Terms is held invalid by any law or regulation of any government, or by any court or arbitrator, the parties agree that such provision will be replaced with a new provision that accomplishes the original business purpose, and the other provisions of the Terms will remain in full force and effect.
Notice of Copyright Infringement
ABP PVT. LTD. is not liable for any infringement of copyright arising out of materials posted on or transmitted through the site, or items advertised on the site, by end users or any other third parties. Our policy is to comply with all Intellectual Property Laws and to act expeditiously upon receiving any notice of claimed infringement. If you believe that your work has been reproduced on this website in a manner that constitutes copyright infringement, please provide a notice of copyright infringement containing all of the following information:
(a)A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner for the purposes of the complaint.
(b)Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed.
(c)Identification of the material on our website that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity.
(d)The address, telephone number or e-mail address of the complaining party.
(e)A statement that the complaining party has a good-faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent or the law.
(f)A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notice of copyright infringement is accurate, and that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the right that is allegedly infringed.
All notices of copyright infringement should be sent to:
ABP Pvt. Ltd.
www.anandabazar.com
ABP Pvt. Ltd. 6, Prafulla Sarkar St. Kolkata-700001, West Bengal, India
+913322345374
WHAT INFORMATION DO WE GATHER ABOUT YOU?
The information gathered when you interact with ABP falls into two categories: 1) Personal information, which includes personal information you supply when you subscribe, order, complete a survey, register for one of our sites, enter a contest or provide your email address and 2) Non-personal information collected through technology, which includes tracking information collected by us as well as third parties.
Personal Information That You Give Us or Ask a Third Party to Share with Us
Registration Information
Registration for ABP may require that you supply certain personal information, including a unique email address and demographic information (ZIP code, age, sex, household income, job industry and job title) to register.
You may register or enhance your profile by linking your Facebook or Google accounts on ABP. By doing this, you are asking them to send us certain information from those social media accounts, and you are authorizing us to collect, store, and use what they send us in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
Social media registration features may collect your IP address, the page you are visiting on our site, and may set a cookie to enable the feature to function properly. Social media features and widgets are either hosted by a third party or hosted directly on our website. You can disassociate your ABP registration from third-party accounts any time.
Kindly note that ABP shall not responsible for any information collected by the third party from you.
User Generated Content and Public Activities (Including Comments and Reader Reviews)
We offer you opportunities to engage in public activities on ABP.com and other ABP Services. "Public activities" are any actions you take on ABP that are designed to be visible to other users, including comments, recommendations, reader reviews, ratings or any other items that you submit. Any information you disclose in your public activities, along with your screen name or ID, or any image or photo, becomes public and may be used by ABP for online and offline promotional or commercial uses in any and all media. If you choose to engage in public activities, you should be aware that any personal information you submit can be read, collected and used by other users of these areas. We are not responsible for the personal information you choose to submit in the course of your public activities and we have no responsibility to publish, take down, remove or edit any of your public activities or submissions. For more information, see Terms of Service.
Public activities may be included in our RSS feeds, APIs and other distribution formats. As a result, your public activities may appear on other websites, blogs, or feeds. Keep in mind that we are not responsible for any personal information you choose to make public via your public activities, and you agree that such sharing will be deemed to have been done by you, not ABP including but not limited to sharing of information in your connected social media accounts.
When you share or recommend links to content on a third-party platform (such as Facebook, Google+ and Twitter), that action and any information you share will be covered by their privacy policy.
Contests, Sweepstakes and Special Offers
ABP collects personal information from you when you participate in sweepstakes, contests or special offers. If this information is also being collected by a third party other than ABP, we will notify you at the same time. If you do not want any personal information shared, you should not participate in the sweepstakes, contest or special offer.
Reader Surveys, Reader Panels and Market Research
ABP may collect personal information from you in connection with voluntary surveys conducted via ABP. Data may be collected through ABP, on the phone or through the mail. The information you provide may be shared, but only in the aggregate, with advertisers and partners unless we notify you otherwise at the time of collection.
Members of our Reader Panels agree to participate in surveys, polls or discussions about their readership of ABP, their household/personal characteristics and their purchase behavior.
Conferences and Live Events
We often receive information about attendees to our live events from sign-in and registration lists. We may share this information with event or promotion sponsors, in which case we will notify you when we collect the information.
Non-Personal Information Collected Using Technology
Information Collected by Us Using Technology
We use various internet technologies to manage ABP and track use of the Services. Non-personal information that we collect using these technologies may be combined with other information about you.
Device Information. We may collect non-personal information about the computer, mobile device or other device you use to access ABP, such as IP address, geolocation information, unique device identifiers, browser type, browser language and other transactional information.
Cookies, Beacons, Local Storage and Other Similar Technologies. We use "cookies," web beacons, tags and scripts, and other similar technologies including local storage objects such as HTML5. These technologies allow us to manage access to and use of the Services, recognize you and provide personalization, and help us understand how people use ABP. You will not be able to access certain areas of our websites, including ABP, if your computer does not accept cookies from us. We do not respond to browser-based "do not track" signals. For more detailed information about our use of cookies and local storage, and how to manage them, see Frequently Asked Questions About Cookies.
We may transmit non-personally identifiable website usage information to third parties in order to show you advertising for ABP when you visit other sites. For more information about our third-party ad server, or to learn your choices about not having this non-personal information used to target ads to you, please click here.
Local Storage Objects
We may use Local Storage Objects (LSOs) such as HTML5 to store content information and preferences. Third parties with whom we partner to provide certain features on our site or to display advertising based upon your web browsing activity use LSOs such as HTML 5 or Flash to collect and store information.
Various browsers may offer their own management tools for removing HTML5 LSOs. To manage Flash LSOs please click here:
http://www.macromedia.com/support/
documentation/en/flashplayer/
help/settings_manager07.html
Analytics, Log Files and Reading History
As is true of most websites, we gather certain information automatically and store it in log files. This information may include internet protocol (IP) addresses (the region or general location where your computer or device is accessing the internet), browser type, operating system and other usage information about the use of ABP, including a history of the pages you view.
We may combine this automatically collected log information with other information we collect about you. We do this to improve services we offer you, including customized Recommendations, advertising and currency display, to improve marketing, and to track access and use of ABP across the devices that you use to access ABP.
We have hired third parties to provide us information, reports and analysis about the usage, browsing patterns of our users. They may independently record the type of device and operating system you are using, general location information, as well as events that occur within our apps, such as how often you use our apps.
Location Information. Some of our mobile applications can deliver content based on your current location if you choose to enable that feature of the app. If you enable the location-based feature, your current location will be stored locally on your device, which will then be used by the app. If you elect to have a location-based search saved to your history, we will store that information on our servers. If you do not enable the location-based service, or if an app does not have that feature, the app will not transmit to us, and we will not collect or store, location information.
The ads in our apps are not targeted to you based on your current GPS location, but they may be targeted to you based on your ZIP code or device's IP address.
Third Parties
Some of the services and advertisements included in ABP, including on ABP and within our mobile apps, are delivered or served by third-party companies, which may collect information about your use of ABP.
These companies may place or recognize cookies, web beacons or other technology to track certain non-personal information about our website users. For example, in the course of serving certain advertisements, an advertiser may place or recognize a unique cookie on your browser in order to collect certain information about your use of ABP. For another example, an advertiser or ad server may also be able to collect your device's unique identifier in the course of serving an ad. In many cases, this information could be used to show you ads on other websites based on your interests.
We do not have access to, nor control over, these third parties' use of cookies or other tracking technologies or how they may be used.
Please click here to see a list of third parties that may be using cookies to serve advertising on our websites or in our apps. For example, we use Google to serve advertisements onto ABP, which use the Google Doubleclick cookie, and in some cases, a unique device identifier, to show you ads based on your visit to ABP and other sites on the internet. You may opt out of the use of the Google Doubleclick cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy.
You have choices about the collection of information by third parties on our website:
1) If you would like more about your option not to accept advertiser cookies, please click here.
2) If you would like to opt-out of having interest-based ad targeting, click here.
Your access to our websites should not be affected if you do not accept cookies served by third parties.
WHAT DO WE DO WITH THE INFORMATION WE GATHER ABOUT YOU?
Provide the Services You Request
We use the information we gather about you to enable your use of ABP and fulfill your requests for certain products and services, such as sending out electronic newsletters and enabling you to participate in and renew paid services, polls, contests and message boards.
Statistical Analysis
We perform statistical, demographic and marketing analyses of users of ABP, and their subscribing and purchasing patterns, for product development purposes and to generally inform advertisers about the nature of our subscriber base. We use this information for analysis purposes, including analysis to improve customer relationships.
Customizing Your Experience
We use the information that we collect to allow advertising to be targeted to the users for whom such advertising is most pertinent. We also use this information to customize certain features of ABP to provide you with an enhanced experienced based on the type of device you are using to access ABP, and in certain cases, provide you with requested services.
Relevant Advertising
We may use demographic and preference information to allow advertising on ABP Service to be targeted to the users for whom they are most pertinent. This means users see advertising that is most likely to interest them, and advertisers send their messages to people who are most likely to be receptive, improving both the viewer's experience and the effectiveness of the ads. We disclose information to third parties only in aggregate or de-identified form.
Email Newsletters
ABP will periodically send you email newsletters or promotional email about services offered by ABP and its advertisers. For details about ABP email, please see below:
WHAT IS OUR EMAIL POLICY?
We will not send you marketing messages if you have unsubscribed. You can choose not to receive messages in the future by following the "unsubscribe" instructions located near the bottom of each email. We will not share, sell, rent, swap or authorize any third party to use your email address for commercial purposes without your permission. However, we will only share your email id with our registered partners in conformance with law. If you feel you have received an email from us in error, please contact newsletter.feedback@abpdigital.in
Email Newsletters. Anandabazar offers several email newsletters. If you no longer wish to receive a specific newsletter, follow the "unsubscribe" instructions located near the bottom of each newsletter.
Survey Email. We may invite you to participate in user surveys asking for feedback on anandabazar.com and existing or prospective products and services, as well as information to better understand our users. User surveys greatly help us to improve our Services, and any information we obtain in such surveys will not be shared with third parties, except in aggregate form.
Emails from You. If you send us an email, we will use your email address to respond directly to your questions or comments.
Email This Article Feature. Addresses you provide in the "Email" share feature may be saved for your convenience for future articles you may wish to email; but they are not used for any other purpose, and will not be shared with any third parties.
WITH WHOM DO WE SHARE THE INFORMATION THAT WE GATHER?
Within ABP
If you have registered to use ABP, we will not sell, rent, swap or authorize any third party to use your email address without your permission.
In the future, we may sell, buy, merge or partner with other companies or businesses. In such transactions, we may include your information among the transferred assets.
Third Parties
Not with-standing, anything contained herein above, we may share the information provided by you with third parties (in any manner whatsoever) and such consent for sharing information with third parties maybe expressed and / or implied as may be applicable and / or indicated. For abundant caution, it is provided that your participation in our website in any form and / or manner whatsoever is an implied consent from your end to be bound by our privacy policy and a further implied consent of allowing us to share your information with third parties.
If you are a print subscriber, we may exchange or rent your name and mailing address (but not your email address) and certain other information, such as when you first subscribed to ABP with other reputable companies that offer marketing information or products through direct mail. If you prefer that we do not share this information, you may opt-out by emailing us at support@abpdigital.in, reach out to us here. Or write to us at: ABP Pvt. Ltd. 6, Prafulla Sarkar St. Kolkata-700001, West Bengal, India.
Please include your account number and phone number in the body of your email or letter, and include "Opt-out" in the subject line.
We may share information about attendees to our live events with sponsors or other third parties. If so, we will notify you when you provide us the information.
Service Providers
We contract with other companies to provide services on our behalf, including credit-card and billing processing, ad serving, shipping, email distribution, list processing and analytics or promotions management. We provide these companies only with the information they need to perform their services. These service providers are restricted from using personal information in any way other than to provide services for ABP, and they may not share, resell or use the data for their own direct marketing purposes.
We reserve the right to disclose your opt-out information to third parties so they can suppress your name from future solicitations, in accordance with applicable laws. We may occasionally release personal information as required by law, for example, to comply with a court order or subpoena.
HOW DO I CHANGE OR UPDATE MY PERSONAL INFORMATION?
Manage Your ABP Account in the My Account Area. You may review and update your ABP membership or account information and access your transaction history in the My Account area. We will respond to inquiries regarding deletion of data within a reasonable timeframe.
Data Retention. We will retain your information for at least as long as your account is active, as needed to provide you services or as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. As a matter of course, we will delete personally identifiable information associated with accounts that have been inactive for at least 15 years.
HOW DO I OPT-OUT?
If, at any time, you prefer not to receive email marketing information from us, simply follow the unsubscribe options at the bottom of each email.
If you experience difficulty with the unsubscribe process, feel free to contact us at support@abpdigital.in and provide your email address along with the name of the newsletter from which you would like to unsubscribe.
Mail or Telephone Promotions
If, at any time, you prefer not to receive mail or telephone solicitations originated by ABP Home Delivery Department, or if you prefer that we do not share this information with third parties for marketing purposes, please email us at support@abpdigital.in or write to us at ABP Pvt. Ltd. 6, Prafulla Sarkar St. Kolkata-700001, West Bengal, India. Please include your account number and phone number in the body of your email or letter, and put "Opt-out" in the subject line.
It is further provided that if you wish ABP to delete your data provided by you to ABP you are requested to send an email to support@abpdigital.in by expressly stating that the data provided by you be deleted. However ABP can only delete the data you provided to ABP and this deletion shall in no manner deem to be deletion of your data that you may have provided to your linked third party social media accounts.
Use of Third Party Personal Information
If you choose to use "email this article" or give a Gift subscription, we require the recipient's name and email address. We will automatically send them a one-time email about the service. ABP does not store this information.
IS MY INFORMATION PROTECTED?
To prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy and ensure the appropriate use of information, we have put in place commercially reasonable physical, technical and administrative controls to protect the information. Please note that no method of transmission over the internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure.
OTHER INFORMATION
Compliance With Legal Process
We may access, preserve and disclose personal information if we are required to do so by law or we have a good faith belief that such action is necessary to (1) comply with the law or with legal process; (2) protect and defend our rights and property; (3) protect against misuse or unauthorized use of ABP; or (4) protect the personal safety or property of our users or the public (among other things, this means that if you provide false information or attempt to pose as someone else, information about you may be disclosed as part of any investigation into your actions).
Changes to This Policy
We evaluate this privacy policy periodically in light of changing business practices, technology and legal requirements. As a result, it is updated from time to time. Any such changes will be posted on this page. If we make a significant or material change in the way we use or share your personal information, you will be notified via email and/or prominent notice.