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QKolkata: Mamata Cracks Whip At Party Meet; E-Rick Boom In City

Your daily lowdown of all things Kolkata.

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1. Didi Cracks The Whip At Core Committee Meet

Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee did some plain speak at an extended meeting of the party core committee on Thursday, pulling up party representatives for their arrogance, lack of public contact and money-making, before taking the plunge for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in which she has the highest stakes.

“If anyone thinks he is above the party and shows the arrogance of defying the party whip, he may better leave,” Banerjee said in a stern message to the party ranks, while taking stock of the recently held rural polls in which TMC faced reverses in pockets, particularly in Jangalmahal. The meeting at Netaji Indoor Stadium was held with a total 9,217 recently elected panchayat representatives, 825 zilla parishad members, municipal representatives, MLAs, MPs and leaders of mass organisations.

(Source: The Times of India)

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2. ‘E-Rick’ Boom In City Rides On ‘Jugaad’

The rickety cycle rickshaws, which provide the last-mile connectivity in many parts of the city, are undergoing a silent evolution riding on ‘jugaad’, to upgrade from pedal -pushed vehicles to battery-operated ones.

Jugaad — the quintessential Indian word for low-cost desi innovation that has even found its way into the Oxford dictionary — is the driving force that is turning the humble rickshaws into slick motoriSed vehicles that provide a smooth ride to its users and also ease the rickshaw-pullers burden.

Operating in the streets and alleys of Kasba, Regent Park, Salt Lake and Nagerbazar areas, these retrofitted pedal rickshaws run on re-chargable lead-acid batteries and sport several features that one usually finds in autorickshaws and cars.

(Source: The Times of India)

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3. Parvathy Works On 1st Baul Archive

Parvathy Baul, who became the first female baul recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi award earlier this week, is on a mission.

The baul singer from Coochbehar, who divides her time between Bolpur and Thiruvananthapuram, is working on setting up the first baul archive in the world at her gurukul in Santiniketan. If all goes well, it should be functional in two years.

Parvathy was boarding a flight from Romania to India when she received news of her win. “I’m very happy... This award is a recognition of the work of my gurus — Sanatan Das Baul and Shoshanko Goshai. I see myself as a continuation of what they have taught me and their work. My father Birendranath, husband Ravi and collaborator Ram have contributed in my life,” the singer, who has mesmerised music lovers with songs like ‘Kichu din mone mone’ and ‘Ghiri ghiri ghiri nache’, said.

(Source: The Times of India)

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4. University Changes Postgraduate Rules

Calcutta University colleges running self-financed postgraduate courses will have to admit students through a centralised system and follow a common curriculum, its syndicate, the highest decision-making body, has decided.

The university on Thursday sent a notice regarding this to colleges. The new system will be implemented in the current academic session starting in August.

Ever since the university allowed colleges to run self-financed postgraduate courses in the start of the last decade, colleges have had their own admission rules.

(Source: The Telegraph)

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5. Bid To Abduct Woman From Platform

A married couple having a row on the platform of Sodepur railway station ended up fighting off a gang of goons who allegedly demanded proof of their relationship before attempting to drag the woman away to a desolate place.

The incident occurred around 10pm on Wednesday at one end of platform number four of the station, which is usually almost empty at that time of the night. Husband and wife had been arguing over a personal matter when the youths approached them on the pretext of intervening, according to a complaint received by Government Railway Police.

(Source: The Telegraph)

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6. Celsius Link To Wetlands

Loss of the East Calcutta Wetlands to concrete structures may lead to a rise in the temperature of the region, according to a research paper.

The paper, written by a team led by US-based scientist Chandana Mitra, points out that the "regional temperature" would "dramatically increase" and rainfall in the region would reduce if urbanisation gobbled up the wetlands.

"Understanding Land Use Change Impacts on Microclimate Using Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model" was published in Physics and Chemistry of the Earth journal in 2017.

(Source: The Telegraph)

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7. City Boys Spin Change In Oz

Their "brothers" had little idea about Calcutta when they first met. A week later they were busy planning a trip to the city and checking out Victoria Memorial on Google map.

That's the impact 20 boys of classes IX to XII from St Xavier's Collegiate School had on students of All Saints Anglican School in Queensland, Australia. The Xaverians managed to change perspectives while learning new lessons during their first exchange programme down under.

The boys left the city on 18 May for a weeklong stay in Brisbane.

Stereotypes were shattered as teenagers bonded over their common love – sports and music – community service and chats on culture and lifestyle.

(Source: The Telegraph)

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