1. CM Firms Up Opposition’s Pre-Poll Pact, Next Meet In 2 Weeks
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took the issue-based opposition to PM Narendra Modi a step further on Thursday, 14 February, by announcing that the opposition parties would enter into a pre-poll alliance to take on BJP-led NDA in the Lok Sabha polls. The Trinamool chief, however, kept the door open for parties willing to join the alliance after the elections because of their state-level compulsions.
Banerjee also announced that the Rahul Gandhi-led Congress had been entrusted to prepare a draft Common Minimum Programme (CMP) of the anti-Modi coalition that would be placed for discussion at a meeting in Delhi on 26 or 27 February. With this, she sent out the signal that Congress was very much part of the coalition.
(Source: The Times of India)
2. Kolkata Metro To Ditch Static Timetable, Rely On Sensor Tracking
Metro Railway, which once ran like clockwork, is doing away with its static timetable and replacing that with a sensor-based information system designed to tell commuters the expected time of arrival (ETA) of a train at a particular station.
Once the proposed system is in place, display boards on platforms will show the expected time of arrival of the next train based on inputs from sensors embedded on the track. This means that when a Dum Dum-bound train leaves Chandni Chowk, the expected time of arrival will be updated at Central, the next stop. After the train leaves Central, the expected time of arrival will be displayed at MG Road.
(Source: The Telegraph)
3. Saradha Case: Nalini Chidambaram Seeks Bail in Calcutta HC
Former Union finance minister P Chidambaram’s wife Nalini, who was apprehending arrest in the Saradha case, filed an anticipatory bail petition before Calcutta High Court on Thursday, 14 February.
According to a high court source, the petition will come up for hearing before a division bench headed by Justice Jaymalya Bagchi early next week.
In January, the CBI had submitted a chargesheet against Nalini Chidambaram to the special CBI court at Barasat near Calcutta.
(Source: The Telegraph)
4. Citizen Clean-Up In Tagore Town (Which Is Yet To Get A Civic Body)
If the civic broom isn’t at play, trust some to make a “clean sweep”.
Some Santiniketan residents have come together to form a platform to tackle civic issues like garbage disposal, drinking water and pollution in Tagore’s university town that doesn’t have a municipal body.
The Citizens’ Group for Santiniketan has been active for three to four months, with some of its 25 to 30 members chipping in with their own cash for basic equipment like gloves and trash cans.
On Thursday 14 February, some of them — including senior citizens — cleaned up the Ratan Pally area on the Visva-Bharati campus and spots near the varsity guesthouse Ratan Kuthi. They promised such drives regularly.
(Source: The Telegraph)
5. Cops Attacked After Trying to Stop Protesters
Residents of a neighbourhood in New Town allegedly assaulted and chased some cops away when they tried to stop them from playing loudspeakers in the wee hours of Thursday, 14 February. According to sources, the policemen visited the area after some locals complained the noise was disturbing their children studying for their Madhyamik exams.
The cops arrived at Patharghata to switch off loudspeakers around 1.30 am on Thursday. Locals there claimed the cops had assaulted one person while asking them to switch off the loudspeakers, which in turn angered a section of residents.
(Source: The Times of India)
6. KMC’s Nursing Room Rule Gets A Thumbs Up
The KMC is only the second civic body after New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) to respond to a letter from the ministry of women and child development to state chief secretaries, urging governments to set up nursing rooms in public places.
Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim on Wednesday, 13 February, initiated the process of making a mother-and-child-care room mandatory in the buildings rules for commercial buildings, particularly malls and markets. The decision will be formalised at the next House meeting, after which it will be incorporated in KMC’s buildings rules.
(Source: The Times of India)
7. Police Find Businessman Abduction Drama Riddled With Discrepancies
The abduction of a city-based businessman late on Wednesday night, 13 February, in the heart of north Kolkata has brought back memories of some sensational cases, which had left the city stunned almost two decades ago. Those cases were solved and most of the accused arrested, but Wednesday’s kidnapping, the cops said, looked quite different from the other ones.
“Comparing this case to the other big cases, like the abduction of Khadim’s owner Partha Pratim Roy Burman, would not be correct. Yes, there are similarities — Manoj Khandelwal was rushed into a waiting vehicle near Maniktala and driven for four hours towards Jharkhand just like Burman’s car had been intercepted and he was dragged into a waiting Maruti 800. But we need to prove all angles and even ascertain if any insider was involved this time. We need to ascertain the exact sequence of events too,” said an officer.
(Source: The Times of India)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)