1. BJP Yatra in Limbo, Case Again Sent Back To HC Single Bench
A Calcutta High Court division bench on Friday, 21 December, stayed a single-judge bench order allowing BJP’s proposed pan-Bengal “yatra”.
This means the programme, originally scheduled for this month, will happen — if at all — in the new year.
The bench of Chief Justice Debasish Kar Gupta and Justice Arindam Mukherjee said the earlier HC order, allowing the yatra, was passed without examining police and intelligence reports placed before the court in a sealed cover. The trial court order was not based on material facts, the division bench held, and referred the case back to the same court, directing it to go through all the reports from 31 police districts and five commissionerates while hearing the BJP petition.
(Source: The Times of India)
2. Row Over Lawyer Singhvi In BJP Yatra Case
Drama unfolded in the courtroom and outside on Friday, 21 December, over Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi representing senior Bengal police officers in the BJP yatra case.
“Why will the court allow Singhvi to appear when the advocate-general, the highest legal official of the state, is present? The court can’t allow the government to attack with a double-barrel gun,” BJP counsel RK Kapoor said.
Chief Justice Debasish Kargupta asked advocate-general Kishore Dutta Dutta why Singhvi had been engaged when he was already appearing. “I am appearing on behalf of the government and Singhvi on behalf of the respondent police officers,” said Dutta. The officers included state police chief Virendra and Additional Director-General (law and order) Anuj Sharma.
(Source: The Telegraph)
3. ‘Polarisation’ On Lips Of Archbishop
The Archbishop of Calcutta, Rev Thomas D’Souza, said on Friday, 21 December, evening that any type of hatred or polarisation should disappear in the atmosphere of peace, love, respect and joy that Christmas represents.
Speaking at the inauguration of the Calcutta Christmas Festival at Allen Park in Park Street, where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was present, he said: “The beautifully lit Park Street and other areas of the city and also other districts of our state of West Bengal are an expression of this light, namely, Jesus Christ, who came to drive away the darkness of ignorance, the darkness of sin and selfishness and the darkness of hatred.”
(Source: The Telegraph)
4. JU Tech Faculty Gets 7 Days To Decide Whether It Wants NBA Tag
Jadavpur University on Wednesday, 19 December, gave its engineering departments seven days to come clear if they want to be recognised by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA).
None of the 14 engineering departments has replied, a university official said on Friday, 21 December.
Some mechanical engineering and production engineering teachers are opposed to the NBA accreditation because they feel the process has diluted the university’s autonomy in drawing up its curriculum, the official said.
(Source: The Telegraph)
5. Funds Torrent In North Bengal: Amit Mitra
North Bengal has received industrial investments to the tune of Rs 1,800 crore during the tenure of Trinamool government and another Rs 2,700 crore will be poured into the region the coming days, Bengal Minister for Finance and Industries Amit Mitra said here on Friday, 21 December.
He was here to attend the sixth edition of North Bengal Conclave, an annual business meet hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to promote of exports, expedite logistic facilities and encourage fresh investments in the region.
“The information available with us shows that Rs 823.95 crore has been already invested in the north Bengal districts and works of projects worth Rs 971.98 crore are in progress. Also, there are investment proposal of another Rs 2,700 crores for north Bengal,” Mitra said.
(Source: The Telegraph)
6. City Cops Get Safety Cushion To Buffer Fall From Even 20th floor
All nine people, who jumped from a height of about 50-feet during the March 2010 Stephen Court blaze on Park Street, would be alive today if the city police had a piece of life-saving equipment that it does now — a mighty cushion that can safely break the fall from up to a 20-storey structure.
Possibly the first of its kind in the country, the stateof-the-art Vetter SP 60 safety cushion could have also saved the lives of two guests, who had jumped off the third floor of a Ho Chi Minh Sarani hotel to escape a blaze last year.
(Source: The Times of India)
7. Man Barges Into Salt Lake Flat, Chases, Stabs Elderly Woman
A 71-year-old woman in Salt Lake was slashed and stabbed by a man who rang the doorbell of her house to ask for money on Friday, 21 December. The attacker, who hid his face behind a full-mask helmet, fled the first-floor flat in Purbachal Housing Society with some cash.
Victim Banasree Chakraborty and her family — her son Anish, his wife and son — have lived at the 650sqft, two-bedroom apartment for 28 years. Around noon on Friday, when her son and his wife were at work, the doorbell rang. Chakraborty thought her grandson had returned from school and opened the door without checking. Instead, she found a man wearing a helmet who asked for money for his mother’s treatment. When Chakraborty turned to look for some money, he allegedly forced his way in and attacked her.
(Source: The Times of India)
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