1. Sovan, Subrata Lose Key Portfolios In Cabinet Rejig
Trinamool heavyweight and city mayor Sovan Chatterjee and party veteran Subrata Mukherjee appeared to be the two biggest losers in a major cabinet reshuffle effected by the Mamata Banerjee government on Wednesday.
Suvendu Adhikari appears to be the biggest gainer as the state transport minister is now in charge of another high-profile department, environment, which mayor Chatterjee lost. Mukherjee lost an important portfolio, public health engineering, to cabinet colleague Moloy Ghatak. Wednesday’s changes were the culmination of the process that started with Tuesday’s resignations of three other ministers — Churamani Mahato, James Kujur and Abani Mohan Joardar.
(Source: The Times Of India)
2. Decomposed Body Found In House With Nine Residents
A 71-year-old woman, who stayed alone on the first floor of her Lake Avenue house, was found dead on Wednesday morning. Her body was recovered in a decomposed condition. Cops said the victim, Kalpana Das, died at least 24 hours before her body was discovered though eight members of her extended family stayed in the same house, police said.
"We have not found anything suspicious. We are, however, carrying out a post-mortem to ascertain there was no foul play. The circumstances of her death, though, has left some relevant questions on how the modern society is treating its senior citizens as a burden," said an officer from the Tollygunge police station. The victim was also enrolled in Pronam, a police programme, for the elderly for the past five years.
(Source: The Times Of India)
3. Tribals Call Shots, Locals See 2009 Rerun In Jangalmahal
Adivasi community leaders in pockets of Jangalmahal — Belpahari, Binpur, Bankashole — have broken the monopoly of the ruling Trinamool Congress, as evident from the state rural poll results. They are now running the writ, deciding on marriages and even boycotting families who went with Trinamool.
But before sizing up these developments as an assertion of identity over “party society”, one needs to delve deep into this trend that has a striking similarity with the situation in these areas nine years ago in 2009 when these community heads rose in rebellion against CPM leaders, giving birth to tribal leader Chhatradhar Mahato.
(Source: The Times Of India)
4. Mob Fury Rocks Bagnan After TMC Neta’s Murder
The murder of a Trinamool leader, allegedly by BJP activists, in Howrah’s Bagnan around 10 pm on Monday sparked night-long trouble that saw ruling party workers block NH-6 for hours with the victim’s body and hurl stones at police when they tried to lift the blockade.
The blockade held up hundreds of goods vehicles on the Kolkata and Kharagpur-bound flanks. After ending the blockade around 1 am on Tuesday, Trinamool workers blocked the Bagnan-Amta Road. Police recovered victim Mohsin Khan’s body around 5 am on Tuesday and arrested two suspects but refused to identify them.
(Source: The Times Of India)
5. Plan For Dynamic Bus-Fare Formula
The Mamata Banerjee government on Wednesday apologetically released bus fares from a four-year political stranglehold, raising them by Re 1 for each tier and also proposing a system of dynamic pricing based on fluctuations in fuel prices.
The new fares will take effect once the notification is issued later this week. Dynamic pricing is still an idea that the chief minister has asked the transport department to work on and come out with a model within a month.
"The state government was forced to increase fares because of the Centre's failure to check rising oil prices across India," Suvendu Adhikari, the transport minister, said. "Our apologies to everyone who will feel the pinch of the hike."
Post-revision, the minimum bus fare for a trip up to 4 km has increased to Rs 7. For every 4 km tier thereafter, there is an increment of Re 1.
(Source: The Telegraph)
6. Sleuths Prepare Ferrari Queries
Howrah police will seek details from the state forensic science laboratory about the parts of the convertible Ferrari California T that crashed on National Highway 6 on Sunday morning, killing businessman Shibaji Roy who was at the wheel.
Sources said the questions would be sent to the Belgachhia laboratory along with the vehicle parts that have been seized. The primary query, according to sources, will be about a device that digitally records all data of the car, such as the speed at which the vehicle was moving and the time when the brakes were pressed.
"We may also write to the Ferrari office in Delhi seeking details of the car," a senior official of the state forensic science laboratory said.
(Source: The Telegraph)
7. Victoria To Change With Times
The Victoria Memorial Hall galleries will be redesigned as part of a Rs 60 crore modernisation and upgrade plan sanctioned by the Centre in 2014.
This is the first major intervention at the nearly century-old monument since its inception. The modernisation programme presented the museum guardians with an opportunity to carry out a comprehensive overhaul of the ageing display system that often clashes with the grand interiors.
The gallery display will be reorganised by city-based architect Abin Chaudhuri, in consultation with the Victoria Memorial curator, Jayanta Sengupta, and a committee of technical experts.
(Source: The Telegraph)
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