QKolkata: Left-Cong Talks About to Fail; Cong Wants to Contest 42

1. Talks Fail, Cong-Left Bengal Poll Deal On Verge Of Collapse

The seat-sharing agreement between Congress and the Left in Bengal in the Lok Sabha polls seems well and truly over, with talks of a “mutually agreeable” formula reaching a dead end and Bengal Congress leaders on Sunday deciding to fight it out alone.

The state Congress leaders have, however, left it to Congress president Rahul Gandhi to take a final call on the matter.

Pradesh Congress president Somen Mitra has already drawn up a list of candidates for all 42 seats, which he will present to Rahul if he gives his nod in Delhi on Monday, sources said.

(Source: The Times Of India)

Also Read: Cong Calls Off Seat-sharing Deal With Left Front, To Go Solo in WB

2. Congress Wants To Contest All 42 Seats In Bengal

Bengal Congress president Somen Mitra said on Sunday that the state unit of the party had decided to convey to the central leadership its intention to contest all 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state alone.

“Our election committee meeting has taken a decision to fight the polls alone. We want to contest all 42 seats,” Mitra told a news conference.

The announcement made it clear that the Bengal Congress had slammed the brakes on talks to arrive at an agreement with the Left Front on sharing of seats to contest the Lok Sabha polls. It had been agreed that the Congress would be allotted 17 seats and the Left Front 25.

(Source: The Telegraph)

3. Dose of Politics at Workers’ Meet Trumped By Dash of Tolly Glamour

It was a picture in contrast. The focus at Trinamool workers’ meetings in north and south Kolkata was on politics. But at the Baruipur workers’ meet, politics was hardly on anyone’s mind. That space was occupied solely by the Jadavpur candidate, who also brought a dose of tinsel-town glamour to the usually staid affairs: Mimi Chakraborty.

In fact, there was so much of exuberance around Chakraborty that her public rally had to be cancelled.

(Source: The Times Of India)

Also Read: QDebate: Should TMC Give Tickets to Actors Like Mimi & Nusrat?

4. JU Molest Survivor Seeks Information

A research scholar at Jadavpur University whose allegations of molestation against her guide have been confirmed by a committee has written to the vice-chancellor seeking to know “what action has been taken against the respondent (the guide)”.

The Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) of the university has mentioned in its report, which was handed over to VC Suranjan Das on February 12, that the teacher had “sexually harassed the complainant in spite of her discomfort”.

(Source: The Telegraph)

Also Read: How We, Jadavpur Univ Students, Marched For CBI Probe in Gaya Case

5. India’s 1st Seismograph Lies ‘Buried’ At Shibpur Campus

India’s oldest seismograph lies “buried” inside an innocuous one-storey building, which now functions as a canteen at one of the country’s oldest engineering colleges — the Indian Institute of Engineering, Science and Technology, Shibur.

The earthquake measuring instrument—an original Benioff seismograph-meter —was built by Victor Hugo Benioff, the father of earthquake design instruments. Installed in the 1930s at the ‘office of the institute’s engineer’, this instrument was among the first few built by Benioff and sent to the then Bengal Engineering College.

(Source: The Times Of India)

6. Chinese Arrested For Flying Drone Over Victoria Memorial

A 34-year-old Chinese national was arrested on Saturday for allegedly flying a drone over the Victoria Memorial premises.

Central Industrial Security Force personnel guarding the heritage monument on the Maidan — around 1.5km from Fort William, the headquarters of the eastern command of the army — detained Li Zhiwei after allegedly spotting him flying the drone and handed him to Hastings police station.

Li was produced at the Bankshall court on Sunday and sent to police custody till March 25. He had entered the Victoria premises with two women, both of whom were let off after questioning, officers said.

(Source: The Telegraph)

7. Twin Storms Hit City, Met Predicts Another In 48 Hrs

The city was lashed by two storms on Sunday evening — a hailstorm that struck with a wind speed of 20kmph was followed by a more severe thunderstorm with a wind speed of 72kmph. While the first one triggered an intense spell of rain and hail in south Kolkata and a drizzle in other parts of the city, the second one led to heavier showers.

Some areas in the south, including Garia, Jadavpur and Kasba, received showers accompanied by hail while it only rained in central and north Kolkata after the first storm. The second storm, a squall, caused a steady shower that lasted more than an hour. The Met office has predicted another thunderstorm within the next 48 hours.

(Source: The Times Of India)