1. Fire Breaks Out at Kolkata’s Apeejay House, 12 Fire Tenders at Spot
A massive fire broke out at the Kotak Mahindra office in eight-storey Apeejay House in Kolkata on Monday. Twelve fire engines were rushed to the spot. The blaze started around 11:15 am and the building was evacuated in half an hour. No casualty has been reported so far.
(Source: The Indian Express)
2. A Swanky Skywalk & Son Et Lumiere: Bengal CM’s Gift to Dakshineswar Temple
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee gifted the country’s first skywalk to Dakshinweswar temple on Monday and named it after Rani Rashmoni, the temple’s founder and a prominent figure of the Bengal Rennaisance. The CM also asked the KMDA to talk to the Kalighat Temple Committee and examine the feasibility of setting up a skywalk for pilgrims.
While speaking on the occasion, Banerjee mentioned about her botched-up Chicago tour during the 125th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda’s Chicago speech. “Now I get to know that they won’t allow anyone other than a particular Hindu to pay tribute to Swamiji. The organisers were intimidated to drop the programme. Just donning saffron is not enough to be a sadhu, one has to have a sacrificing mind,” the CM said with an oblique reference to some BJP leaders who wear saffron.
(Source: The Times of India)
3. Two Killed in Auto Crash
Two people in an auto were killed and three injured when the three wheeler collided head-on with a pickup in Baruipur, South 24-Parganas on Sunday night.
The police said that the accident occured at Padmapukur when the auto was headed to Garia. "The five people in the auto were fish vendors," a police officer said.
(Source: Telegraph)
4. November Warmth Hits 15-Year High, Dip on Horizon
The rising minimum temperature touched 24.6 degree Celsius on Monday – the city's highest in the past 15 years on 5 November.
The weather is likely to remain similar for two or three days followed by a dip in the temperature, a MeT official said on Monday.
The northwesterly wind that ferries cold weather to Calcutta has dried up. But it is likely to get a fresh lease of life and the minimum temperature should read between 20 and 21 degrees on Thursday.
(Source: Telegraph)
5. Pulitzer Winner, Mythology Expert, Historian Among Kolkata Lit Fest Speakers
Pulitzer Prize winner Andrew Sean Greer, mythology expert and author Devdutt Pattanaik, historian Ramchandra Guha, actor Naseeruddin Shah will be among the personalities addressing the 10th Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival (AKLF) to be held from 18 to 20 January, said a statement issued by AKLF Saturday.
The list of 16 speakers also includes historian and biographer Rajmohan Gandhi, writer and parliamentarian Shashi Tharoor, columnist and novelist Shobhaa De and journalist Seema Goswami.
(Source: The Indian Express)
7. New Info-Sharing Platform to Cut Delays at Kolkata Airport
Flight delays and mid-air holding of flights because of congestion on the ground are likely to reduce significantly at Kolkata airport from this Thursday, when a common information-sharing platform goes live.
The platform will enable the airport operator, airlines and other agencies to process information accurately and take immediate and more precise decisions, saving time for flyers, fuel for airlines and reducing carbon emissions.
The Airport-Collaborative Decision Making (A-CDM) system will also enable passengers and their relatives to get accurate information on arrival times of flights. A-CDM is currently active at 25 airports across Europe; it is currently operational in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru in India.
(Source: The Times of India)
7. Choksi Associate Arrested at Calcutta Airport
Deepak Kulkarni, an associate of diamond merchant Mehul Choksi, was arrested from Calcutta airport on Monday evening in connection with a cheating and money-laundering case.
Kulkarni is said to have been in charge of the Hong Kong operations of Choksi, the diamantaire who fled India soon after his nephew Nirav Modi also did so after allegedly defrauding Punjab National Bank out of Rs 13,000 crore.
(Source: Telegraph)
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