1. The Legal Tussle between Times Now and Mamata
On 31 July, English news channel Times Now aired a sting operation which they claimed ‘exposed’ Mamata Banerjee’s nephew and number two in the Trinamool Congress, Abhishek Banerjee. The sting “unravelled” business transactions between Abhishek and tainted businessman RK Modi and also “dubious” financial transactions between Abhishek’s firm Leaps and Bounds and several non-banking financial corporations. Two people shown in the sting, the Randar brothers, also claim that Abhishek is the ‘Maalik Of Bengal’. “Will CM Probe Her Own?” screamed the headlines.
On the very day, 25 minutes before the story went on air, the channel’s Kolkata correspondent Tamal Saha was sent a vaguely worded notice from the Shakespeare Sarani Police Station, summoning him to meet an officer “in the matter of an enquiry”. What this matter of enquiry was, was not mentioned in the notice.
Read the full story here.
2. Call to Remove Darjeeling Civic Chief
A majority of the Darjeeling municipality councillors on Monday sought the removal of the civic chief DK Pradhan, who is perceived to be close to Bimal Gurung, so that development work could resume.
Political analysts pointed out that the move signalled the waning influence of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha chief on the people of the hills and a rise in the popularity of Binay Tamang, who has been harping on development.
Sources said 28 of the 32 municipality councillors had adopted a resolution seeking the removal of Pradhan and submitted it to Arobindo Ghosh, the executive officer of the civic board.
Source: The Telegraph
3. Documents Petition In Nobel Theft Case
Calcutta High Court on Monday admitted a public interest litigation challenging the CBI's refusal to hand over to the CID documents related to the probe into the theft of Rabindranath Tagore's Nobel medallion from a Visva-Bharati museum in March 2004.
The case will be heard on Tuesday. The court also directed the petitioner to serve a notice to the CBI, asking it to be represented in the court during the hearing.
The CBI was handed the case twice but failed to make significant headway. Late last year, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had written to the Centre requesting it to hand over the case to the state. The central agency informed the Bengal government in June this year that it was unwilling to hand over the documents.
Source: The Telegraph
4. Cops Sit On Case
In more than 24 hours since businessman Milan Dey and a security guard were allegedly assaulted at the behest of local MLA Paresh Pal, the only response from the police has been to register a " counter complaint", a tool often used to coerce victims of any wrongdoing to back off.
At least two persons witnessed the assault. A CCTV camera possibly captured what happened. But till late on Monday, police hadn't even started a case based on the victim's statement.
Dey was allegedly targeted because he had asked for a Tata Sumo to be moved away from the entrance to the building where he lives. One of the assaulters told him that the car belonged to MLA Pal.
Source: The Telegraph
5. Kolkata Gets One More Brazil Match, But Where Are The Tickets?
Thousands of Kolkatans spent the better part of Monday evening waiting in a queue. No, they weren’t queuing up outside any puja pandal or a theatre but over the Internet, with their eyes fixed on the phone and computer screens waiting for their turn to enter Fifa’s ticketing website to buy tickets for the Brazil-England semifinal that was shifted from Guwahati to Kolkata on Monday afternoon.
However, as the evening progressed, the wait turned into despair as most fans complained of being timed out of the queue and asked to queue up again. Those few who managed to enter the site and even select the number of tickets found the page unresponsive while conducting the secure checkout.
Source: The Times Of India
6. After Scare, Schools Spread Dengue Lessons
The sudden spurt in dengue across has forced schools to sit up and take note, even as the Association of Schools for ISC started issuing guidelines to parents, asking them to take necessary precautions. Three school students recently fell victim to the dreaded disease, and there are hundreds of patients across the city and the suburbs. On Saturday, 10-year-old Abirbhab Majumdar, a Class V student at South Point, became the latest casualty.
The association, which has around 300 schools under it, has instructed pupils to wear full trousers, even in junior classes, where short trousers are usually the norm. For girls who have to wear skirts, knee-length stockings or leggings have been made compulsory. “Since mosquitoes spreading the virus mostly bite below the knee, we have instructed schools to ask students to make the necessary changes,” said Sujoy Biswas, president of the association and principal of Rammohan Mission School. “We have also instructed schools to spread bleaching powder on campus, use mosquito repellent in classrooms and end waterlogging.”
Source: The Times Of India
7. Secret Tunnel Unearthed Under Historic Domjur Rajbari Plot
Construction workers taking down a dilapidated building on the Domjur Rajbari plot in Korola on Monday unearthed a 200-year-old structure about 50ft under ground. In 1915, revolutionary Rashbehari Bose had made his escape to Japan from this place. The four-cottah plot had recently been bought by businessman Monoranjan Halder, who wanted to tear down the existing structure and build a house.
On Monday, when workers were digging up the floor of the building, they chanced upon another structure underneath. Halder said: “I asked the men to dig further and they gradually came upon a broken pillar. Some 20-30ft under ground there emerged a staircase which stretched around 17-18ft, at the lower end of which there was a 10ftx10ft windowless room. A tunnel extended from a four-feet arch on one of the walls. Beyond three-four feet, however, the tunnel is broken.”
Source: The Times Of India
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