Interim report by board could not identify the source of around one-fifth of Calcutta’s PM2.5 pollution Environmentalists have raised questions about an ongoing study ordered by the state pollution
Cooch Behar : More than 2,000 people had put up a road blockade and gheraoed Saheb Mohammed High School at Rashidanga in Kotwali after over 12.5 quintals of rice in sacks meant for mid-day meals were found in an adjoining pond this morning. The villagers alleged that the teachers, including the headmaster, who had come to the school
Jaigaon : Eleven Royal Bengal Tigers rehabilitated at a rescue centre after their performance in circus shows was banned are being fed less than their daily quota of meat. That the tigers kept at the centre in South Khayerbari in Alipurduar subdivision were being fed short of a total of 10 kilos of beef daily first came to the notice of the veterinary surgeon from Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary, Proloy Mondol.
G.S. MUDUR This is a question you'd surely ask yourself while buying a car: how much petrol does it guzzle compared with other models? Such fuel-efficiency data exist
The skies over Calcutta are becoming as congested, and probably just as unsafe, as its roads. Multiple flights on one route, skeletal infrastructure and an obsolete airspace management plan have combined to bring down the safety level of air travel to and from the city by several notches, experts say. It's not that the civil aviation ministry is not spending money on modernisation. As much as Rs 2,000 crore has been set aside for Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport, but most of it is for passenger amenities on the ground rather than technology for safer skies.
The Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) has pressed the pause button on the Park Circus market's handover to Reliance despite taking Rs 30.33 crore from the company five months ago. The civic body seems to have frozen the move for political reasons, though there has been no official statement yet on why it has not kept its part of the deal. "Given the outcome of the panchayat elections, the message from the CPM headquarters on Alimuddin Street is to go slow on the transfer,' a source in the CMC said.
Mangoes being sold in Siliguri. (Kundan Yolmo) Siliguri, June 1: Mangoes from Malda are ready to arrive in Siliguri. With jamaishashthi (a ceremony for sons-in-law) round the corner, people were disappointed when the produce from the nearby district eluded the town even in the last week of May. Traders of Siliguri Regulated Market, however, said the fruit will be in the shops in the next few days.
Darjeeling : The Bengal government has formed a high-level advisory committee to oversee the implementation of the Rs 55-crore Balasun supply scheme that is expected to solve the water shortage problem in Darjeeling town. "The committee has been entrusted with the job of reviewing the progress of work, suggesting measures for the timely commission of the project and coordinating with all agencies including the DGHC,' said Pranai Rai, the MLA from Darjeeling, who heads the panel.
The WHO and the Union health ministry will launch a pilot project in Cooch Behar and Murshidabad districts of Bengal as part of their nationwide programme to curb the use of tobacco. The plan under the National Tobacco Control Programme involves the setting up of counselling centres at the district level, where experts will advise people on how to kick the habit of smoking. These centres will be located at the district hospitals, from where teams of experts will fan out to various blocks.
Krishnagar: The forest department has asked Iskcon to hand over eight peacocks caged on the temple premises in Mayapur, Nadia. In a letter written last week, the divisional forest officer has asked the temple authorities to hand over the national birds "immediately' "Otherwise, the department will have no other option than to seize them.' The number of peacocks, eight when a forest department team had gone to the temple on an inspection a few weeks ago, has gone up to 14 over the past two days following the birth of six birds.
The government has refused to investigate thousands of suspected deaths from chikungunya while repeatedly asserting in Parliament that no one has died from this viral infection, public health experts say. The disease had broken out in many places in 2006, and at least one city recorded an extraordinarily high mortality. Ahmedabad registered 2,944 deaths over its average during a four-month period when the outbreak had peaked, municipal records show.
