1. Now, Modi Woos Minorities In Bengal
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday told a rally in Birbhum that Saudi Arabia had recently increased India’s quota for Haj pilgrims by 2 lakh following his request, appearing to reach out to minority voters.
“The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia came here (India). I told him the number of middle class families is increasing in India. The financial condition of Muslims is improving. They are willing to go on Haj. I asked him to increase the quota by two lakh and he did so,” Modi told the gathering in Kamarpara village of Birbhum’s Illambazar, a minority-dominated pocket.
(Source: The Telegraph)
2. Sweets Don’t Come With Votes, Says CM
Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday that she would send rasogollas and other gifts to people during festivals, but that didn’t mean she would give them votes.
The Bengal chief minister was addressing an election rally in Hooghly’s Serampore when she seemed to have referred to Narendra Modi’s comments that Mamata would gift him kurtas and sweets every year.
“In keeping with our culture, I send rasogolla and other sweets to people…. I send gifts during Puja and on other big occasions…. I offer tea, because that’s what we do here. But that does not mean I will give them my vote or get them any,” Mamata said.
(Source: The Telegraph)
3. Modi Brands Mamata ‘Sticker Didi’
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday called Mamata Banerjee “Sticker Didi”, accusing her of trying to usurp credit for central government’s welfare schemes before she implements the same in Bengal.
“Speed-breaker Didi only puts her sticker on every scheme run by the Union government. It is an easier way of taking credit without doing anything…. She is Sticker Didi as well,” Modi said at an election rally in Nadia’s Ranaghat.
(Source: The Telegraph)
4. Class 10 Student Carrying Heavy Schoolbag Tumbles Down Stairs
A 15-year-old Class 10 student tumbled down the stairs of her school at Liluah with a heavy schoolbag strapped to her shoulders on Monday morning. Priyanka Bhanja Choudhury, the girl, sustained severe injuries on her forehead and spinal cord and underwent a surgery on Tuesday. The accident has stoked the old debate on whether students should be made to carry weighty schoolbags. While the authorities of Agrasen Balika Shikhsha Sadan – the school – has pointed out that it doesn’t allow students to carry heavy bags, Priyanka’s family has claimed insurance from the school.
At around 7.30 am on Monday, Priyanka was climbing the stairs to her classroom when she slipped with her schoolbag on her back. She hurt her back and forehead and was taken to the school doctor. Her family was informed and Priyanka was first taken to the Shramajibi Hospital in Belur. Later, she was moved to another hospital on Park Street and finally admitted to Kothari Medical Centre. Priyanka had a spinal cord surgery at the hospital and remains under observation. A resident of Belur, Priyanka has suffered a disc dislocation and is not being able to move her legs, said her family members.
(Source: The Times Of India)
5. FIR Against Cabby For Assaulting Autistic Child
The Gariahat police has lodged an FIR against an Uber driver for allegedly assaulting an autistic child on way to his school at Dover Lane. The boy’s mother, who teaches English at Bethune College, has lodged a complaint that the driver — identified as Chandeswar Kumar — had twisted her son’s arms and used objectionable language when the kid fiddled with the car AC.
Though Uber has refunded the fare and promised a thorough investigation, the victim’s mother, Piyali Gupta, has called for an unconditional apology from the company and a detailed response on the action taken against the driver.
(Source: The Times Of India)
6. Cops Clamp Down On Illegal Parking, But Lodge FIR Against Protesters
Cops on Wednesday came down on illegal parking in the neighbourhood of South Point High School, but, in a move that came as a shocker to residents, they also slapped an FIR on “unknown” protesters who hit the streets in the past 48 hours to demand their right to free movement.
Protesters had assembled on Cornfield Road and Swinhoe Street on Tuesday, hours after a similar protest on Monday. Cops said the case has been registered under IPC sections 143 (unlawful assembly) and 283 (danger or obstruction in public way or line of navigation). The protesters on Tuesday mostly included senior citizens — more than half of whom were women. “We had a detailed discussion on their problems on Monday. On Tuesday, we had asked them to give us some time. But none of our pleas were heeded and several people — including students — had to suffer in the heat,” said an officer.
(Source: The Times Of India)
7. Futnani Occupants Get Evacuation Notice
The Raj-era Futnani Chambers on SN Banerjee Road was served evacuation notice on Wednesday ahead of the East-West Metro tunnelling scheduled for next week.
The notice issued by Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC), the implementing agency of East-West Metro, asks residents to stay out from 28 April to 3 May, when the west-bound tunnel boring machine (TBM), nicknamed Chandi, will burrow below the building.
Around 150 people living or working in offices in the mini-township, popularly called the “Bata building”, will have to vacate the premises. Sixty of them will be put up in a central Kolkata hotel.
TBM Chandi, currently digging below the KMC headquarters along SN Banerjee Road, is due to reach Futnani Chambers on Sunday night after covering Hogg Street.
(Source: The Times Of India)
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