1. All Communities in India Will Live Together in Harmony: Bhagwat
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat was in the city to address a programme to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Sister Nivedita, a disciple of Swami Vivekananda.
While addressing the gathering, Bhagwat said all communities would live together in harmony in the country, irrespective of their diverse culture, religion, language and food habits.
“Everybody will live in harmony as the sons of Mother India. All of us will live together, irrespective of the diversity of culture, religion, language and food habits,” he said.
Quoting Nobel Laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore, Bhagwat said, “Tagore had once told the British not to think that the Hindus and Muslims (of India) would be wiped out by fighting against each other as this would never happen. Despite their differences, they (Hindus and Muslims) will find a path of coexistence and that path will be the Hindu path.”
(Source: PTI)
2. Grand Immersion Carnival of Award-Winning Durga Puja
The city this evening witnessed a colourful grand immersion carnival showcasing the year's award-winning Durga puja pandals at the Red Road.
With Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee along with senior ministers like Partha Chatterjee, Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, Firad Hakim and Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay and other senior officials seated on the main dais, the evening witnessed special presentations by representatives of around 70 Durga Pujas' committees at the Red Road which was decked up with special lighting for the event that started at around 5 pm.
Besides, representatives of the three World Cup teams of England, Chile and Iraq, delegates from several foreign consulates were present at the immersion carnival.
(Source: PTI)
3. Hint at Binay's Rising Relevance
The Bengal government's well planned moves to catapult Binay Tamang into a prominent position in the hill politics seem to have started yielding desired results.
The rebel Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leader's rising popularity and relevance can be gauged from the steady stream of visitors from different walks of life he gets as the chairman of the board of administrators (BoA) to run the GTA and as someone close to the state government.
Sources in the Tamang camp said that the fact that people from across the hills were visiting him was an endorsement of his status as a tall leader in the hills.
(Source: The Telegraph)
4. Hooghly Under Pollution Attack
Hundreds of Durga idols have been drifting in the Hooghly since Saturday and polluting the river.
Metro cruised from Bichali ghat in the south to Ratan Babu ghat in the north, covering the city's 14 ghats, last evening.
In at least 11 ghats, there were no arrangements to lift the idols from the water immediately after immersion, as mandated by Calcutta High Court.
(Source: The Telegraph)
5. Tribunal Order on Mikes
The National Green Tribunal on Tuesday directed that agencies renting out public address systems and loudspeakers not fitted with sound-limiters be denied trade and other licences.
The eastern zonal bench of the tribunal, which issued the ruling, also said that microphones to be used in all functions, including those organised by the governments and political parties, must be fitted with sound-limiters.
The order, passed in response to a petition filed with respect to Bengal, will be applicable to all states in eastern and north-eastern India, the Andaman & Nicobar islands and Sikkim, the bench comprising Justice SP Wangdi and expert member SC Mishra ruled.
(Source: The Telegraph)
6. Race to Finish Syllabi Begins
Schools in the hills started reopening on Tuesday after over 100 days, but academics were worried if a race to finish the syllabus on time would burden children of lower classes and whether the statehood movement would keep foreign students away in the next academic year.
Even though the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha had withdrawn the indefinite strike on 27 September, educational institutions could not reopen immediately because of the puja festivities.
Tuesday was the first day after 15 June that some of the schools reopened and held regular classes. All other educational institutions, including colleges, are scheduled to start normal academic activities from 9 October.
(Source: The Telegraph)
7. Phones Seized at Pandals to Enforce No-Selfie Diktat
Police and puja organisers crushed many a social media dream, but probably also prevented mishaps after they decided to seize mobile phones of pandal-hoppers who were caught taking selfies in no-selfie zones.
More than 3,000 cellphones got seized – and, subsequently returned to their rightful owners – at several pandals.
(Source: Times of India)
(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.)