CMYK MAY 3 FRIDAY 38 Precipition: 20% Humidity: 64% 38 29 Wind: 23 KM/H Rs. 3 KOLKATA SUNDAY, 22 MAY, 2022 PG-12, YEAR—8, ISSUE—357 (RNI NO.: WBENG / 2014 / 56803) Morning India Rain drenched AFC CUP at Yuva Bharati Stadium at Salt Lake in Kolkata on Saturday. A portion of the tree split apart following Nor'wester in the city, on Saturday. PG 3 PG 4 WB governmemt’s ‘Jansangjog’ program draws massive response in districts MI News Service, Kolkata: The South 24- Parganas district administration on Friday launched the outreach programme 'Jansanjog' (Connect with people) a new initiative to improve public contact and resolve their problems. The programme was launched in all the sub-divisions in the district. District Magistrate P Ulaganathan attended the programme at SDO office in Canning. The ADMs attended it at their respective sub-divisions. "There are so many small issues which can easily be solved by BDO/SDO/DM without any involvement of funds or policy changes. Given the vastness of the district, it is essential that the officers from District Headquarters, sub-division and Block level go to the people, hear them out and resolve their issues. Local MLAs and public representatives, line department officials etc. also attended the programme," City ravaged, districts bear brunt by Nor’wester A portion of road in Central Kolkata is inundated following nor'wester followed by rains on Saturday evening. MI News Service, Kolkata: Respite after a prolonged heat but damage as well. Massive thunder storm with torrential rain along with lightning strikes rocked different parts of West Bengal. Immense darkness loomed at the wee hours around 4 pm as the sky got carpet of jet black clouds that brought immense destruction and welcome relief to the people as well. From Kolkata to different districts of South Bengal, it rained profuselyalong with gusty winds with a speed which well crossed 55 kmph. The vehicles were moving with circupspect speed with the headlights on during day time. The road became empty. The commuters and residents at different parts of Kolkata and suburbs witnessed considerable destruction caused due to high speed. The traders decided to jump and close the business for the time being. Due to the heavy rain, lights were turned on in the gallery of Eden. The polythene sheet of pitch cover was blown away by the storm. It is learned that trees fell in Alipore due to the storm. The temperature drops a lot in one push. The memory of Amphan seems to have returned a lot in the wind. Whistling can be heard with the storm. Dust flies with the wind. The stalks of the trees on the side of the road keep falling. For the last few days, the people of Bengal have become restless in the scorching heat asking for a relief. One died in Burdwan after a tree fell in a severe storm. Two people were injured. Again, part of the road was closed due to falling trees on Prince Anwar Shah Road. The AFC Cup match between ATK Mohun Bagan(India) and Basundhara FC (Bangladesh)at Yuvbharati also ended after 12 minutes of play. The press box has been severely damaged. Metro service has also been affected. The effect was re- PIC:PRABIR BHATTACHARYA ported in the afternoon. Metro said that the service was disrupted as a tree fell on the up line between Mahanayak Uttam Kumar and Netaji stations. Meanwhile, a man was injured when a tree fell on the road near the National Library. Disaster management team personnel rushed to the spot. Water has stopped flowing in several areas of the city. Heavy rains cause heavy traffic jams on highways. The situation is similar in several districts of South Bengal. This has also created Power failures in the districts. The weather office said that there is a possibility of Kalbaishakhi on Sunday as well. Excise duty cut on petrol, diesel; subsidy announced for Ujjwala gas beneficiaries MI News Service, New Delhi: Amidst rising energy prices and inflation, the Central excise duty on petrol has been cut by Rs 8 per litre and on diesel by Rs 6 per litre, reducing the price of petrol by Rs 9.5 per litre and of diesel by Rs 7 per litre, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said. "Today, the world is passing Orissa HC asks tehsildar to plant 50 trees as punishment MI News Service, Bhubaneswar: In an exemplary punishment, the Orissa High Court has asked a tehsildar of Cuttack district to plant 50 trees as punishment for imposing a fine on an illiterate woman without hearing her case properly. While hearing a petition filed by Mita Das of Balana village in Kakatpur block of Puri district, singlebench judge Biswanath Rath has asked Kakatpur tehsildar Biranchi Narayan Behera to plant at least 50 trees on road side in Cuttack Development Authority (CDA) areas. The tehsildar had instituted a case against Mita under Odisha Prevention of Land Encroachment Act in July last year. On September 15 last year, Behera imposed a penalty of Rs 1,004 on her without hearing her case and issuing a show-cause notice. Following which, she had filed a petition in the high court saying that the tehsildar had imposed fine without hearing her case. "Once an encroacher volunteers to appear, the tehsildar, if he finds there is no written response from him, at least should provide one more opportunity to file his response to find the reason on his residing over such plot and if a person is landless or not?" the court observed. Even after filing of show cause, there should not be passing of orders in encroachment proceedings mechanically, it said. "When a proceeding is initiated under a statute, it has a definite purpose for more consideration, particularly, when the matter involves encroachment. The tehsildar should not have rushed to decide the matter on that date itself," Justice Rath said in his order. Further, the court directed to share a copy of the order to the principal secretary, Revenue & Disaster Management department and principal secretary to law department for making an endeavour to ensure that such mistakes are not repeated by tehsildars across the state. The high court also remitted the matter to the tehsildar for re-hearing of the encroachment case on either May 27 or May 30 and passing of a reasoned order. CMYK through difficult times. Even as the world is recovering from Covid-19 pandemic, the Ukraine conflict has brought in supply chain problems and shortages of various goods. This is resulting in inflation & economic distress in a lot of countries," she said in a series of tweets. K Continued PG 3 a senior district official said. The programme will be organised in every Block and sub-division 3 times a month. About 220 grievances were disposed on the very first day that included 32 in Canning, 47 in Baruipur, 59 in Alipur Sadar, 43 in Diamond Harbour and 39 in Kakdwip. 96 of such grievances were resolved on spot while assurance for resolving 115 grievances within the next 15 days were given through an assurance letter. A section of TMC leaders are of the opinion that this programme helped the party to bridge the gap between the common people and that of the party ahead of the Central election in 2024. Earlier, the party gained massive response from “Duare Sarkar” projected as one of the public contact initiative on the part of the administration to garner strength ahead of the Assembly election in 2021. Bratya, Firhad Demand for in398 skip London clusion of of mouzas tour as SSC Tarai and fiasco stalks Dooars in GTA MI News Service, Kolkata: The state education minister Bratya Basu has abruptly canceled his visit to London. Education Secretary Manish Jain is also not going to London. The two were scheduled to travel to London on Saturday. It is learned that Education Minister Bratya Basu and Education Secretary Manish Jain were scheduled to attend a discussion on education in London next Sunday and Monday. However, they are not attending the event. Bratya Basu hastily and quite abruptly canceled the tour at the behest of the current fiasco regarding education scam. It is learned that after that meeting in London, his wife Paulmir was supposed to join Bratya. The two of them were supposed to go to Scotland. Bratya has also canceled that tour. Meanwhile, Transport Minister and Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim was also scheduled to visit London. According to sources, he is not going on that tour either. According to the soothsayers, with government in a fix with a massive scandal revolving in the air, the CM has directed the duo not relinquish the pitch until a stabilty has been achieved. The fate of Adhikari and Chatterjee is poised in a thin string and Mamata need two good experienced players to bat for the team in this critical juncture. The Madhyamik exam is also all set to come up in the first week of June, hence in this precarious and delicate situation it would not be wise enough for these old salts to leave the war ground. In the mean time, the interrogation is on with Adhikary and Chatterjee as well. Till now, both have kept their nerves intact as the sleuths are sqeezing hard for every thing they could dig out. At the same time, the state government is still in the mode to accuse the centre for their ‘careful’, ‘premedidated’ and ‘strategic’ use of agencies to settle old scores. worries govt MI News Service, Kolkata: Subhash Chhetri, the president of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha's(GJM) Banarhat block, said that the agreement, which was signed in 2011 to keep separate Gorkhaland demands "on record", included all areas of Darjeeling, Karshiang and Kalimpong subdivisions in the GTA. A 'High Power Committee' was formed to determine the rationale for its inclusion. Although the report of this committee has never been made public. The GTA agreement lists 59 departments for devolution of power to autonomy. However, after 11 years, the power of most departments has not been transferred to the GTA administration. The government is now preparing for elections in the GTA area. Chetri further said that they want the powers of all departments to be transferred first as per the agreement and 398 mouzas of Tarai-Dwars to be included in the GTA.