Ammo blast

Durgapur, Oct. 17: Two civilian technicians were injured, one of them critically, when a mortar shell past its expiry date exploded accidentally at the army base in Burdwan’s Panagarh this morning.

Army officers said the two were defusing the shell at the depot when it went off.

6 per cent DA

Calcutta: The government has announced a 6 per cent dearness allowance for its employees and pensioners with effect from November 1. The bar on withdrawing salary arrears for the period between April 1997 and October 1998, which the government had stashed in employees’ PF accounts, will be lifted from November 1.

Nirupam Sen

Calcutta: Industries minister Nirupam Sen was discharged from hospital on Friday. Doctors said Sen’s cardiac condition and blood pressure were stable.

City mishaps

Calcutta: Beleghata resident Sandip Bhattacharjee, 32, drowned in the Hooghly at Outramghat, where he went for the immersion of a Lakshmi idol.

Van overturns: Twenty people, including women and children, were hurt when a van overturned near Victoria Memorial on the way to Babughat to immerse an idol.