A Niti Ayog team will come on a three-day visit to north Bengal next week for talks with the stake-holders of the tea industry. This is the first time that the BJP-led government is sending a high-level team to north Bengal in recent years. According to the officials of the Tea Board of India, the team from the Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO), a wing of the Niti Ayog, will reach Bengal on October 27 and meet representatives of team associations, small tea growers and others belonging to the tea sector that provides employment to around 10 lakh people in the region in a direct and indirect manner. The DMEO is tasked with the responsibility to monitoring and evaluating the schemes and initiatives of the Centre and come up with policies.
Bridge connecting to Dooars in a shambles
The precarious condition of two north Bengal bridges on NH 31 — the Coronation Bridge at Sevoke and Balason River Bridge — raises questions over the Centre’s alleged apathy in building parallel bridges required to keep connectivity intact in the northern region of the state. The 70-year-old Coronation Bridge developed cracks almost 10 years ago prompting the state PWD to restrict movement of vehicles weighing beyond 10 tonnes. The bridge connects Siliguri to Dooars. Now, movement of all vehicles barring two-wheelers has been halted for the past three days over the 50-year-old Balason river bridge, which is located on the northwest end of Siliguri, after one of its pillars bent with the force of the swollen river and a portion of the bridge’s plank subsided.
29 Jadavpur University teachers in elite US varsity list
Twenty-nine teachers of Jadavpur University feature among the top 2% of the scientists of the world in a survey by a research group from the Stanford University, said an official of the higher education department. Researchers from the US university have updated the database of top scientists based on their career-long publications through a list published on October 19. As many as 29 teachers from JU are on the list, the highest among all Indian universities, the official said. The teachers are from physics, chemistry, mathematics, power engineering and chemical engineering departments, among others. This year’s list has 2,042 names.
ISC schools prepare labs for practical test
Several ISC schools in Kolkata have started setting up their laboratories and drawing out plans to divide students into batches for classes and board practical exams. The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CICSE) has said the ISC practical exams will be held in schools following all Covid safety protocols. The practical exams are to be conducted between October 25 and February 28, 2022, giving schools a window of four months for the exam. In many schools, the lab has been out of use due to the pandemic.
Pranab mondal
Our correspondent in West Bengal pranabm@newindianexpress.com