1. TMC Leader Organises 'Brahmin Meet' in Bengal's Birbhum District
A senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader organised a "Brahmin convention" in Bolpur town of Birbhum district on Monday, 8 January, a move described by the BJP as the Mamata Banerjee-led party's tactical shift towards "soft Hindutva."
The day-long "Brahmin and Purohit Sammelan" was held by the TMC's Birbhum district president, Anubrata Mondal, who is a strong critic of the BJP and its policies.
Mondal said the convention was organised to highlight the "misinterpretations" of Hinduism by the BJP and discuss what the Hindu religion stood for.
The saffron party has accused the TMC leadership of practising "soft Hindutva" in a bid to stop the Hindu voters of the state from tilting towards the BJP.
(Source: PTI)
2. Noapara Bypoll: BJP Candidate Denies Association With Party
In a major embarrassment to the BJP, a former Trinamool Congress MLA in West Bengal denied any association with the party within hours of her being named as its candidate for an Assembly by-election in the State.
Manju Basu was to be the BJP’s candidate in the Noapara Assembly constituency in North 24 Paraganas district, where polling is scheduled for January 29.
“I have no idea how the BJP announced my name. I have not received any communication from the BJP State leadership about this and came to know about it from the media,” Ms Basu told The Hindu. She, however, admitted that she had held several meetings with BJP leaders Kailash Vijayvargiya, national general secretary, and Mukul Roy.
(Source: The Hindu)
3. Parents Unhappy With Suspects' Parade
The four-year-old student of GD Birla Centre for Education, who had allegedly been sexually assaulted by two teachers on the campus, failed to identify the accused during a test identification parade at Alipore Central jail on Monday, parents said.
The girl's mother, who was with the child during the parade, said her daughter could not identify the suspects because the live images shown to her were too grainy.
The child's father said the family would seek legal opinion on whether a second test identification parade could be held, one in which the accused will be brought face-to-face with the child.
"We don't want the parade to be held through video conferencing. Instead, we want the suspects to be produced in front of our daughter," the father said.
The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, however, states that the "court shall ensure that the child is not exposed in any way to the accused at the time of recording of evidence."
(Source: The Telegraph)
4. Be Tough, Partha Tells Principals
Education minister Partha Chatterjee has asked college principals to act tough while dealing with campus unrest stemming from demands that students with low attendance be allowed to write exams.
The minister said this on the sidelines of a programme in Salt Lake on Monday afternoon.
"The principals have to act tough. For instance in Jaipuria College, the principal acted tough after realising the gravity of the situation. Others will have to display the same toughness....We are not in favour of capitulating to unlawful demands," said Chatterjee.
Jaipuria College principal Ashok Mukhopadhyay had in December allowed 16 students with attendance less than 60 percent to fill in the form for appearing in a BCom semester exam.
Later, as four teachers stepped down protesting the decision, the principal requested Calcutta University not to allow the 16 to write the test.
(Source: The Telegraph)
Five More Arrested in Howrah Mob Attack Case
With the arrest of five more people today in connection with the mob attack on police at a village in Howrah district on 6 January, the total number of those held rose to 12.
The Officer-in-Charge of Shyampur police station, Suman Das, was seriously injured in the attack and still remained critical, being put on ventilator support in a city hospital.
Das had gone to the village to execute a court order on a land dispute along with other policemen.
The five persons were held today from Jagdishpur village under Dholahat police station in South 24 Parganas district, a police officer said.
Suspecting them to be strangers, villagers alerted police that led to the arrests, Howrah SP (Rural) Gourav Sharma said.
All the five are said to be relatives of the main accused, Munsi Matiar Rahaman, Sharma said.
(With inputs from PTI)
City Sees Temp Drop to10.5
Calcutta is going through a rare spell of sliding mercury, each morning setting the record of being the coldest in five years.
The Alipore Met office recorded a minimum temperature of 10.5 degrees on Monday, the lowest in five years.
Monday lifted the crown beating Sunday's record (10.6 degrees), which in turn had the honour of breaking Friday's (11.1 degrees).
"Theslide in Celsius is likely to continue," an official in the Met department said. "Conditions are favourable for a slight fall on Tuesday, too."
(Source: The Telegraph)
(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.)