English help for St Xavier’s students
St. Xavier’s College will identify students struggling to comprehend lectures in English, counsel and help them so that they are not pushed to the brink of despair. This was after a first-year physics student was found dead beside railway tracks in Hooghly district.
A suicide note found in his pocket mentioned his inability to comprehend lectures in English. ‘’We will launch an effort to identify students who may face similar problem, counsel them and hold remedial classes so that they can overcome the shortcomings,’’ said an official.
Alumni cell at engineering institute
The Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST), Shibpur, will set up an alumni cell to raise funds for infrastructure development and to create a corpus of students’ welfare on the lines of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). Teachers from prominent institutes will be invited as chair professors. The cell will promote participation of the alumni in the development of the institute in the form of endowment and Corporate Social Responsibility funds. The alumni cell will be rope in to generate funds for development of new hostels and classrooms. A notice posted on the institute’s website has called on all alumni interested in the venture to send their briefs to the office of the dean by August 14.
Helping hand for menstrual hygiene
Vending machines will be installed at 100 government schools across Kolkata and on the outskirts for underprivileged girls so that they can buy sanitary napkins at a nominal cost. Institutions have been selected, based on the number of underprivileged girls and school dropouts.
A menstrual hygiene management programme was launched last week by an NGO. Of the 100 vending machines, 14 have already been installed in schools and the rest will be allotted at the remaining schools in the next two months.
Hoardings to spread awareness regarding wetlands
The East Kolkata Wetland Authority will put up more than 50 hoardings on the periphery and within the wetlands area, announcing its global status and rules for such areas. Environmentalists have long demanded that hoardings be put up to make the people aware of the wetlands and the rules governing them. In 1992, the Calcutta High Court had barred any change in the use of wetlands, which are an important component of Kolkata’s natural wastewater recycling system. The wetlands, spread over 12,500 hectares, were declared a Ramsar site in 2002.
Pranab Mondal
Our correspondent in West Bengal
pranabm@newindianexpress.com