Kolkata waits eagerly for rains
Kolkatans are sweating after not having received any rains over the past fortnight. The city residents are dependent on anything that helps —lemonade, sugarcane juice, tender coconut, watermelon and beers — in bringing down body temperature. Humidity is only adding to discomfiture. Sugarcane juice and ice cream sellers are now swarmed by thirsty commuters especially in the day hours. However, the good news is that monsoon has entered Kerala and is expected to enter West Bengal by June first week. More than 2 crore people in Greater Kolkata region are eagerly waiting for rains.
Explosives flown away with utmost care
Some 25 tons of explosives meant for mine blasting flew under tight security and extreme precautions from Kolkata’s Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport to Almaty in Kazakhstan. The explosives were being transported in 1,461 thermally-insulated, waterproof and crush-proof boxes from Mumbai and transported 2,500 km in a Russian Tu-204C freighter. The explosives were taken with utmost care with ‘No Smoking’ pasted on every box as a precaution against fire accident.
Many people unaware of bank strike
Many Kolkatans and those in the city suburbs are unaware of the two-day nationwide strike called by the United Forum of Bank Unions on May 30 and 31. The bandh is likely to hit the people hard as more than 21,000 ATMs of over 10,000 bank branches in West Bengal are likely to be shut during the strike that is being called to demand a salary hike of the bank employees.
Chinese consulate to sponsor Salt Lake Durga Puja
In an effort to forge cultural ties with Kolkata, the city’s Chinese consulate will sponsor the oldest Durga Puja in Salt Lake township, where the consulate is also located. The organisers of the BJ block puja will send a team of artisans to Kunming in Yunnan province to learn the Chinese architectural designs which would then be replicated in the puja pandal. Chinese flute and music. There are also plans of acrobatics to be showcased at the pandal. Interestingly, the eastern metropolis was once home to some hundreds of Chinese families. The numbers have now come down over the years
Aishik Chanda
Our correspondent in West Bengal
chanda.aishik@gmail.com