1. Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi Slams TMC Government: 'They Should Look in Mirror, Remove Dirt from Their Faces'
A day after the Trinamool Congress (TMC) hit out at him for allegedly flouting the Constitution, Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi hit back telling them to “remove the dirt from their faces”. “They should go to the washroom, look at their faces in the mirror and remove the dirt from their faces,” the Governor said without naming anyone. “They should stop throwing mud on the office of the governor. Now please stop mudslinging targeting the office of the governor.”
The Governor was speaking on the sidelines of an event in Diamond Harbour, South 24 Parganas. Tripathi and the government have often collided in the past. The latest flashpoint occurred after the Governor wrote to Malda administration expressing his desire to hold a meeting to oversee development and the law and order situation there. This did not go down well with the TMC.
(Source: The Indian Express)
2. Calcutta University Teacher Assaulted, Lodges Complaint with Police
Calcutta University has decided to call a syndicate (highest administrative decision making body) meeting on 16 February to place the matter of student assault on Bhaskar Chandra Das, the head of department of Chemical Engineering.
Das was allegedly "slapped" and "threatened" by a section of Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad leaders on Tuesday at Rajabazar Science College campus of CU. On Thursday, Das lodged an FIR with the Amherst Street police station.
(Source: The Times of India)
3. Five Men Arrested for Stalking and Molesting Woman
Acting on the basis of a Facebook complaint about a 24-year-old woman being teased, stalked and molested while returning from work last Tuesday night, Bidhannagar Police arrested five persons on Thursday.
According to the post written on the Facebook page of Bidhannagar City Police, the complainant mentioned one of her family members was stalked by a group of youths as she took a footbridge from near 206 bus stand in Salt Lake to Keshtopur around 9.30pm.
"The youths called her by names and were speaking among themselves about ways to molest and torment her. As she ran fast, the youths blocked her path. She somehow pushed them and started running through the lanes of Keshtopur as the youths chased her in a car. She somehow entered the home of a stranger and stayed inside the home till the youths went out of sight. The stranger then dropped her home," the complaint read.
The complainant mentioned, since the incident, the girl is in shock and feared of being raped had the stranger not helped her.
(Source: The Times of India)
5. Civic Body to Install 6,000 Waste Bins
The civic body will buy 6,000 waste bins and install them across the city, especially in commercial hubs.
A civic body engineer said the buy would more than double the count. The city at present has around 5,500 bins.
"This is the second time a tender to buy bins has been floated. The last time there were only two bidders," said an engineer of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation's solid waste management department.
(Source: The Telegraph)
6. Auto Strike After Molestation Arrest
Thousands of daily commuters were left in the lurch after auto-rickshaws plying between Tollygunge and Garia went off the road on Thursday in protest against the arrest of Iman Ali Khan, who allegedly molested a passenger on Wednesday evening.
Buses ran packed and seemed too little to cater to the surging crowd as hundreds waited for hours at bus stops.
A mother who tried to take her 13-day-old toddler for a check-up at a hospital, an actor who was to attend a shoot around noon, several school students out to take their exams and IT executives who had to attend meetings were among many who suffered.
(Source: The Telegraph)
7. Extortion Case: Raided Former IPS Officer's Property, Seized Liquor, Government Documents, Says CID
A CID team again raided a Madurdaha property allegedly belonging to retired IPS officer Bharati Ghosh in Kolkata on Thursday, seizing liquor and “government documents” in the process. Though the agency only referred to a “retired IPS officer” in its statement, the property is allegedly owned by Ghosh. She had served as the West Midnapore SP before taking voluntary retirement.
“Searches were conducted on Thursday and Friday in different properties admitted to be the property of a retired IPS officer. All searches and seizures were done in strict observance of the law. Extensive videography was conducted. All CID personnel subjected themselves to a search by others before entering. Among the items seized were a large number of government files and documents of West Midnapore. These include a large number of arms license applications, verification rolls of candidates applying for employment and so on”, said DIG (CID Operations) Nishat Parvez.
(Source: Indian Express)
8. Covered: Cracks on 'Viral' Flyover
"Bridge near Axis Mall Rajarhat, please share as much as you can. It's a tragedy waiting to happen."”
“Ok not good! I take this route to college and so do many office goers. Not good!"
"This is the dilapidated bridge in front of Axis Mall in Rajarhat..Please take action."
Messages like these accompanying a picture of the New Town flyover with two apparent "cracks" circled in red have been trending on Facebook and Twitter and shared over WhatsApp for about a week.
On Thursday, Metro found the 500m flyover wearing a fresh coat of cement over the two joints. "There was no structural damage whatsoever. We decided to put a layer of cement on the joints to allay fears," said Debashis Sen, the chairman-cum-managing director of the New Town Kolkata Development Authority.
(Source: The Telegraph )
9. Before Tesla, SpaceX Took Kolkata Scientist’s Flies to Space
SpaceX, the Elon Musk company that lifted a $100,000 Tesla Roadster into space on Wednesday, has also conducted crucial NASA experiments that will determine future forays into deep space. What's more, those experiments have a strong Kolkata connect.
Sharmila Bhattacharya, who did her schooling from Loreto House and La Martiniere for Girls and then Part-I from Presidency College, has been leading the NASA team that studied the impact of space on fruit flies.
"Approximately, 77 percent of human disease genes are similar to those in the fruit fly genome. So studying the impact of space on fruit flies helps us understand the underlying mechanisms of human diseases," Bhattacharya, who is in Kolkata now, said, explaining the connection between man's forays into deep space and fruit flies.
(Source: Times of India)
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