Panel to plan Netaji’s birth anniv celebrations
The state government will celebrate the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose through various programs throughout the year. CM Mamata Banerjee has announced the formation of a special committee chaired by her and comprising Nobel laureate economists Amartya Sen and Abhijit Bandyopadhyay, educationist Sugata Basu, novelist Shirshendu Mukherjee, finance minister Amit Mitra, poet Joy Goswami and singer Sandhya Mukherjee. The panel will start work from January 23. Mamata Banerjee recently wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring to light the mystery of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s disappearance.
IIT ready to recall research scholars to campus
IIT-Kharagpur has prepared a list of 50 research scholars who will be recalled from December 1 if they sign an undertaking. The undertaking, among other things, says “In case of emergency, the non-availability/inadequacy of medical facilities may lead to serious consequences for which Institute and/ or its authorities will not be responsible in any form.” The clauses in the undertaking state that the research scholar has to be mindful of the fact that the BC Roy Technology Hospital at IIT-Kharagpur provides only primary healthcare and there is no advanced treatment facility on the campus or in Kharagpur township. The research scholars, who are being recalled, had vacated the institute campus in September following a spike in Covid-19 cases.
Airlines call for daily flights to Kolkata again
Airlines have again requested the West Bengal government to allow daily flights to Kolkata from six cities. At a meeting this week, the airline operators’ committee requested the Kolkata airport director to take up the issue with the state government once again. Flights to Kolkata from Delhi, Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, Chennai and Ahmedabad are suspended following a request from the state government because of high Covid prevalence since July 6. From September 1, the state government allowed flights to arrive from these cities thrice a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Majerhat bridge likely to open on Thursday
The Majherhat bridge will be thrown open to traffic within the first few days of December, senior officials at the state secretariat said. Though a formal announcement is yet to be made, several state government officials and police said that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to inaugurate the bridge on December 3. The railways and the PWD, the implementing agency for the `200 crore project, have submitted a joint safety certificate on the bridge’s structure to the state government. A portion of the old structure, which is now being replaced with the city’s first cable-stayed bridge, had collapsed around on September 4 in 2018 killing three persons.
pranab mondal
Our correspondent in West Bengal pranabm@newindianexpress.com