News Analysis India

Tag: Kolkata news

  • Kolkata Diary: All that is happenign in the ‘City of Joy’

    Express News Service

    More IIT-Kharagpur students want online exam, finds survey

    Close to 98 per cent students of IIT Kharagpur, most of whom are present on the campus, have now expressed desire to write the end-semester exams online, said an official. Last week after the institute gave the students, other than those in undergraduate first year, option to choose how they would like to write the end-semester exams following protests over forcing students to write the exams online.

    A total of 7,899 out of 8,069 said they would write the exams online. The IIT decided to give the option after  after an open-house session between institute director V K Tewari and 8,000 odd students on March 21, over the protests which the IIT witnessed.

    Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, BRO ink deal for strategic bridges

    To further its strides in facilitating road development in difficult terrains in India, Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd, (GRSE) has signed an MoU with the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) for the fabrication, supply, erection and launching of first-of-its-kind,  double-lane Class 70 modular steel bridges in border areas.

    The two year contract worth Rs 65 crore was inked by the Director General of the BRO, Lt Gen Rajeev Chaudhary and Cmde PR Hari, IN (Retd.), officiating chairman & managing director, of the Miniratna Category 1 Defence PSU.

    These bridges have been designed in-house by GRSE & all components have been manufactured with 100 per cent indigenous raw materials, in line with India’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan.

    254 cancer beds inaugurated at Tata Medical Center

    Kolkata got 254 new cancer beds at the Tata Medical Center in Rajarhat on Saturday. The beds, a percentage of which is reserved for underprivileged patients, are in the Tata Medical Center Phase-II. Indian Oil Corporation is also a part of the second phase development of the hospital.

    Tens of thousands of cancer patients from Bengal go to other states for treatment because Kolkata does not have enough cancer beds and facilities. Data by the ICMR-National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research suggest that in 2020 alone 1.08 lakh new cancer cases were reported in Bengal.

    Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation​ to survey for illegal billboards

    Officials will identify illegal billboards in a survey to be carried out across Salt Lake, places off the VIP Road and parts of Rajarhat to, said sources at the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation. The recently passed budget of the civic body has set a target to mop up around Rs 65 lakh in revenue from outdoor advertisements.

    “These are high visibility areas but our revenue from the billboards from these places has been low. We want to change this,” said an official of the civic body. Once the survey is over, notices will be sent to billboard owners who have not been paying tax.

  • Kolkata diary

    Express News Service
    Forensic units in all divisions of Kolkata Police Kolkata Police has decided to form forensic teams in each of its nine divisions to collect samples from crime scenes and accident spots without delay. As of now, personnel of the Forensic Division, located at the police headquarters in Lalbazar visit all the crime/accident spots in the city to collect samples. This has led to delays, especially on days when there are multiple accidents or crimes. “We will set up a forensic team of two members in each of the nine divisions in the state capital.”

    Popular college to conduct online admission tests Ramakrishna Mission Residential College (Autonomous), one of the several in-campus educational institutions run by the Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama in Narendrapur, has decided to admit students to undergraduate courses after an online screening due to Covid-19. The college authorities said students applying for honours degrees in History, Physics, English and Economics will have to take online admission tests and give a viva. The other eight departments, including the Department of Chemistry, Department of Mathematics and Department of Statistics, will shortlist candidates based on their Class 12 marks and an online viva. The college used to on-campus admission tests till 2019. 

    Vaccination at home for the bedridden The Kolkata Municipal Corporation has decided to visit the houses of those who are bedridden to administer Covid-19 vaccines to them. The corporation has made it clear that the special service can only be availed by those who are unable to leave their houses. Officials said when such a service is sought for a bedridden person, nobody else in that family will be allowed to make use of the service. Covid vaccination guidelines do not allow vaccination at people’s homes, said an official of the civic body, adding that exemptions can be made for those who are immobile

    Jadavpur univ: Class XII and X marks for admissionJadavpur University has decided to consider Class X and XII marks as criteria to admit students to undergraduate courses. The decision was taken last week after the state education department struck down the university’s proposal to screen students for BSc courses based on their Class XII marks and as well as online interviews or group discussions. The state government has asked all government colleges and universities to screen students for admission to undergraduate science courses this year solely based on the marks scored in Class X and Class XII exams

    pranab mondalOur correspondent in West [email protected]

  • Kolkata Diary: All that is happening in the ‘City of Joy’

    Express News Service
    Private hospitals’ help sought for ramping up vaccine drive

    The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has sought the help of private hospitals to ramp up COVID-19 vaccination in the city and offered properties belonging to it for private units to organise off-site vaccination drives.

    The issues related to vaccination were discussed during a meeting with senior officials of private hospitals at the civic headquarters on Thursday. The hospitals were asked to place more orders for vaccines than what they are doing now so that more people can be brought under the vaccination net.

    The state government will help source COVID vaccines for private hospitals so that they do not have to slow down their vaccination pace because of any supply issues, said the officials.

    Formula to evaluate Class 12 students ready

    In lieu of Class 12 examinations in the 2020-21 academic year, the Bengal higher secondary council has decided to evaluate students by giving 40 per cent weightage to their performance in Class 10 board exams and 60 per cent in class 11 annual exams.

    The state education department decided to scrap Higher Secondary 2021 exams because of the surge in COVID cases.

    Instead, it has decided that combined weightage of the two exams (Class 10 and Class 11) will be added to 30-mark practicals (for lab-based subjects) or 20-mark project work (for non-lab subjects) and this will be considered the “principal basis of evaluation” to arrive at the final marks of Class 12 candidate.

    While factoring in the secondary exam marks, students’ performance in the best four subjects (carrying 400 marks) will be considered.

    Candidates to write XLAT from home on July 18

    St Xavier’s University, New Town, which had postponed the Xavier Law Admission Test (XLAT) in April because of the COVID-19 pandemic, has scheduled the test for July 18. Aspirants can write the tests online from home.

    The computer-based test that would have required visiting examination centres was to be held in nine cities, including Kolkata, on April 25. Now, the test will be internet-based. If an aspirant has poor connectivity at home, he or she can go to the campus and use the university’s facilities to write the test, said the varsity officials.

    Action recommended against three city hospitals

    The West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission on Friday recommended legal action against three private hospitals in Kolkata. A probe found that the three hospitals, with common ownership, lacked adequate infrastructure and had presented inflated bills to patients and were operating with healthcare personnel who were not qualified.

    One of the complainants told the commission that he had deposited Rs 1 lakh during admission and when the patient was discharg- ed after a day, he was refunded only Rs 20,000. The patient was charged `80,000 for one day’s treatment.

  • Kolkata diary: All that’s happening in the City of Joy

    Express News Service
    Stadium turned into COVID Care Centre

    A stadium in Barrackpore in North 24 Parganas district has been converted into a satellite COVID-19 treatment facility of the Nehru Memorial Techno Global Hospital. The centre has onsite doctors and nurses to monitor the patients. Other facilities include oxygen administration, including high-flow support, and X-ray.

    It facility is primarily for patients from Barrackpore, Khardah, Titagarh and nearby areas. The centre started with 35 beds and will add another 35 beds in a week and a further 30 by June 7. The initiative was taken after Barrackpore MLA Raj Chakrabarty approached the Nehru Memorial Techno Global Hospital and suggested converting the stadium as a treatment facility.

    Don Bosco School opens classrooms for COVID care

    Don Bosco School in Park Circus has opened up its classroom for treatment of Covid-19 patients. A 30-bed facility has been set up in a classroom on the ground floor of the building. The facility has beds with oxygen support.

    “As of now schools are closed and we are not sure when we will be able to reopen the campus. When we have the space and facilities, we thought we should make it available for medical service and reach out to the needy,” said an official of the school.

    Doctors among the parents of the school’s present and previous students are working together with the school management to dispense COVID care. West Bengal on Thursday extended the COVID lockdown till June 15. 

    Higher secondary exams by July-end

    Due to the pandemic, the state education board has decided to push higher secondary (Class XII) exams to the last week of July and secondary (Class X) exams to the second week of August. Exams will only be held for the main papers at home centres (the school that the student attends). Exams won’t be conducted for additional papers.

    The Central boards – CBSE and he Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations – are yet to announce the date for the Class XII exams. Both boards are set to review the pandemic situation in the first week of June.

    Free tutorial on digital platforms for children

    Students of Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira in Belur will offer free tutorials on digital platforms to under-privileged students from Class III to VIII six days a week, according to a plan drawn up by the college.

    According to a notice issued by the college authorities, classes will be held from 7 am to 8 pm in Bengali, English, Social Studies, History, Geography, Mathematics, Science and Environmental Science.

    A detailed schedule has been uploaded on the Facebook page of the college. YouTube links for the different classes have been uploaded too.

  • Kolkata diary: Bringing news from the ‘City of Joy’

    Express News Service
    Private hospitals asked to procure jabs from makers

    The state health department has informed the private hospitals in the state that they will have to procure the vaccines from the manufacturers starting from next month. At present, the state government supplies vaccines to private hospitals. This arrangement will come to an end on April 30. Private hospitals now pay Rs 150 a vial. Each vial has 10 doses.

    From May 1, the private hospitals have to shell out more. The Serum Institute of India, which manufactures Covishield, announced that private hospitals have to pay Rs 600 for each dose. Bharat Biotech, which produces Covaxin, has priced its vaccine at Rs 1,200 a dose for private hospitals and Rs 600 for government hospitals.

    Probe into IIT-Kharagpur professor over alleged casteist remark

    The National Commission for Scheduled Castes has taken suo-motu cognizance of alleged casteist remarks made by a professor of IIT-Kharagpur during an online class. The Commission has asked the institute to submit a report on the action taken against the professor within 15 days.

    The class on preparatory English, during which the remarks were made, was attended by a number of students from the SC community. A notice was sent to IIT Kharagpur director, VK Tewari, by the Commission’s Director of administration, Ajit Kumar Sahu.

    The notice says, “Her remarks have hurt the sentiments of many Indians, specifically the SC community.” Sources in the institute said an investigation has been launched.

    St Xavier’s College to wrap up online classes early

    In light of the Covid situation, St Xavier’s College has decided to wrap up classes on May 10, instead of May 29 as originally planned. According to a notice issued by Father Diminic Savio, the principal of the college, “The last day of class for B. Ed semester two is being brought forward to 10th May instead of 29th May.”

    The notice was issued a day after the college put off holding online semester exams given the increasing gravity of the pandemic. The students had complained that they were struggling to prepare for the exams in light of the situation.

    Kolkata’s South Point High School sets up COVID-19 helpline

    The management of Kolkata’s South Point High School has started a “COVID helpline” where parents or staff members can ask for information on the availability of hospital beds, oxygen cylinders, blood plasma donors, etc.

    The school will then post the question to the 25,000 users of the school app. According to a notice issued by the school to all parents and staff members, information could be sought on the availability of medical facilities like hospital beds, ambulances, oxygen, medicines, blood/plasma donors, nursing care services, food supply, and isolation/quarantine centers.