1. Kolkata Braces For Fani’s Fangs
With Cyclone Fani raging over Bay of Bengal and heading for a landfall between Gopalpur and Chandbali on Friday morning, the city is bracing for a severe storm that could sting the city hard between Friday evening and Sunday afternoon. While moderate showers have been predicted in Kolkata and across south Bengal on Friday afternoon, it could get heavier later in the evening with wind speed reaching 85kmph. Coastal areas of the state could be struck by winds of up to 115kmph, leading to disruptions across the districts of Gangetic Bengal till Fani moves towards Bangladesh as a deep depression.
The approaching cyclone has sent the state government and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) into a huddle with both announcing a series of measures, including evacuation from unsafe buildings, coastal areas and removal of hoardings near thoroughfares and flyovers.
(Source: The Times Of India)
2. In A First In Years, City Airport To Remain Shut For Over 20 Hours
The city airport will be shut down for nearly 21 hours from Friday evening, leading to cancellation of over 200 flights. This is the longest closure of operations in recent memory. A trade union strike more than a decade ago had forced the cancellation of scores of flights but the airport had not been officially shut.
“Given the severity of cyclone Fani, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has ordered a shutdown of all operations from 9.30pm on Friday to 6pm on Saturday. An advisory has been sent to all airlines to cancel flights,” Kolkata airport director Kaushik Bhattacharjee said on Thursday evening after day-long deliberations on how best to survive the monster cyclone that could force large-scale disruption of flight schedules and leave thousands stranded.
(Source: The Times Of India)
3. Cyclone Fani: Schools Get Shut Order
To deal with the spectre of Cyclone Fani, the Bengal government has declared holiday over the weekend in all its schools and several private institutions have done the same following an appeal from the state government to Delhi boards .
Private schools such as Birla High School, Sushila Birla Girls’ School, South Point, Apeejay Schools Park Street and Salt Lake have suspended classes on Friday.
South Point and Mahadevi Birla World Academy will remain closed on Saturday, which was a working day. However, Mahadevi Birla will remain open on Friday.
(Source: The Telegraph)
4. Mamata's ‘Mutiny’ Cry
Mamata Banerjee on Thursday likened her efforts to dismantle the Narendra Modi government to the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, loading the proverbial gun at the very place that sired the rebellion against British rule.
The Bengal chief minister also accused the prime minister of “running the biggest syndicates in the country”.
Addressing a rally in Bhatpara under the Barrackpore Lok Sabha constituency, barely 10km from the site of Mangal Pandey’s mutiny, Mamata said: “The Sepoy Mutiny was the first major uprising against the British in India. Now, the biggest threat and problem in the country – like the British oppressors then – is Narendra Modi.”
(Source: The Telegraph)
5. Rapid Emergence of BJP Stuns Poll Watcher
The quick disintegration of the “dominant” CPM and the rapid emergence of the BJP as the main Opposition in Bengal is unlike anything New York-based investor and poll watcher Ruchir Sharma has seen in India.
“One of the biggest learning experiences for me here (in Bengal) is the quick disintegration of the CPM, which was a dominant force, and the emergence of the BJP as the main Opposition in such a short period…. I have never seen anything like this in India,” said Sharma, who has been tracking Indian elections since 1998 with a small group of colleagues and friends.
(Source: The Telegraph)
6. Ensure ‘Gaddars’ Lose Deposit, Mamata Says On Arjun Turf
Mamata Banerjee on Thursday took the fight against Trinamool deserters to their turf, taking on the party’s four-time former MLA Arjun Singh without naming him.
“Hum usko chorengeh nahi. Hum dangabaz ko nahi chorenge (I will not spare him. I will not spare rioters),” the West Bengal chief minister said at a rally here, throwing down the gauntlet at Singh, whose poll-eve defection to BJP was rewarded with a Lok Sabha ticket for Barrackpore.
“Baap, beta ka jamanat jabd karna padega (We have to ensure the deposits of father and son are forfeited),” Banerjee said, referring to Singh and his son Pawan, who is BJP’s candidate for the Bhatpara assembly bypoll on 19 May.
(Source: The Times Of India)
7. Adhir Says Will Lodge Complaint With CEC Over Poll Panel’s Failure to Act
Congress candidate from Behrampore Adhir Chowdhury on Thursday alleged that the Election Commission of India has failed to ensure free and fair poll in the last four phases of the Lok Sabha polls in Bengal. He is moving the ECI office in New Delhi demanding removal of special police observer Vivek Dubey.
“He did not even receive my call or respond to messages when we faced trouble; leave aside meeting him personally,” said Chowdhury. “Murshidabad had faced violence during the last poll, but the police observer made no transfer before the Lok Sabha polls. One of our party workers was killed and acid was thrown on a woman for voting for Congress. But we failed to get any response,” said Chowdhury. There was no central force in 97 booths in Behrampore, he said.
(Source: The Times Of India)
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