1. Chhath Revelry Trauma Killed, Drove Away Birds From Lake
Around 9 am on Wednesday, a morning walker at Rabindra Sarobar stumbled upon a dead Indian pond heron on the Lake walkway — an apparent casualty of the nightlong cacophony of the Chhath puja revelry.
Ornithologists fear more birds may have died as a result of the revelry with carcasses either lying behind the bushes, away from public view, or already consumed by scavengers. However, what is certain is that the noisy crackers and music blaring from boom boxes had an impact on the Lake birds, both resident and migratory.
(Source: The Times Of India)
2. Dead Fish Surface As Lake Faces Chhath Damage Till Year-End
Chhath is over but environmentalists warn that the impact of the trail of “carnage” it has left behind at Rabindra Sarobar will be felt till the end of December even as fish and birds are exposed to the contaminated water.
The Lake might now look clean after a clean-up drive on Wednesday evening, but toxicity lurked below the still waters, warned naturalists.
The firecrackers burst indiscriminately during Chhath Puja and the flowers, vermillion, oil and ghee dumped into the water as rituals had caused long-term harm to aquatic organisms, including fish, said environmentalists.
(Source: The Times Of India)
3. Killer Swine Flu Strikes Again, This Time In Upscale Salt Lake
A 49-year-old resident of the upscale FE Block in Salt Lake on Thursday succumbed to swine flu at a private hospital. This is the third swine flu death in Kolkata hospitals this year.
Mousumi Misra, a homemaker, was admitted to the hospital on 23 October after she had tested positive for the H1N1 virus at another hospital a day earlier. She was treated at an isolation ward and spent nearly three weeks on ventilation. But her condition kept deteriorating and she passed away at 9.40 am. The Bidhannagar Municipality said they had not been informed about the case though it is mandatory for hospitals to notify them.
(Source: The Times Of India)
4. Maa’s New Arm: Exit Ramp To Gariahat
A 2.2km ramp from Maa flyover is being planned for commuters headed for Gariahat and beyond from the EM Bypass, even as the second arm connecting the flyover with the AJC Bose Road flyover nears completion.
Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority — the implementing agency for the elevated corridor between the AJC Bose Road flyover and EM Bypass with exits at the sevenpoint Park Circus crossing — has commissioned a feasibility study and detailed project report (DPR) for the 2.2km ramp that will turn left from the AJC Bose Road-bound arm at the Congress Exhibition Road-Syed Amir Ali Avenue intersection and then run along Syed Amir Ali Avenue till Gariahat Road before Ballygunge Siksha Sadan school.
(Source: The Times Of India)
5. Mamata Courts Matuas
Mamata Banerjee on Thursday went all-out to ensure her party retains the support of the influential Matuas, who the BJP is assiduously trying to woo, using a celebratory dais to roll out a list of sops for the Hindu Namashudra community and attacking the saffron camp over the emotive citizenship issue.
The chief minister visited the Matua Mahasangha headquarters at Thakurnagar in North 24-Parganas for the first time since the campaign for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
The event at Thakurnagar was held to launch yearlong celebrations of the birth centenary of Binapani Devi, the Matua matriarch. Mamata conferred on Binapani Devi Bengal’s highest civilian award, the Banga Vibhushan.
(Source: The Telegraph)
6. Bengal Trafficking Victim Gets Compensation After Long Wait
A 22-year-old trafficking survivor diagnosed with HIV after her rescue from a brothel in Mumbai has received Rs 4 lakh in compensation from the Bengal government after more than a year of fighting for her right to be recognised as an Indian citizen and treated with dignity.
The woman, a resident of a South 24-Parganas village, had escaped two forced marriages before a man she knew trafficked her to Mumbai. She was 18 at the time.
A police raid on the brothel last year freed her from prostitution but the authorities wouldn’t believe that she was an Indian. “Some officers of Mumbai police were under the impression that I was a Bangladesh national. They simply refused to believe that I was from Bengal,” she recalled.
(Source: The Telegraph)
7. Children’s Corner At Canning Police Station
A children’s corner with cartoon characters such as Chhota Bhim and Tweety painted on the walls and facilities for indoor games was inaugurated at women’s police station in Canning, South 24-Parganas, on Thursday.
Officers said the corner had been set up as part of their efforts to take the fear of police out of the children’s minds so they felt free to report trafficking, which is rampant in the district, and other crime.
Ninety-eight children from 10 gram panchayat blocks who attended a three-hour programme at the police station a day after Children’s Day played games, the rules of which were explained to them by cops, and ate breakfast and lunch, again served to them by the cops.
(Source: The Telegraph)
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