IIEST Delhi meeting suspended
• HOWRAH: A meeting of the board of governors, the highest decision-making body of IIEST, Shibpur, scheduled for November 16 in Delhi has suspended because of air pollution. Director Ajoy Kumar Ray said board chairman Koppillil Radhakrishnan has told him that he feared for his health if he were to travel to Delhi at a time when the national capital is reeling under severe air pollution. An institute official said Radhakrishnan was supposed to reach Delhi from Bangalore for the meeting. Issues like pending infrastructure development was on the meeting agenda.
Water supply
GARDEN REACH: The Garden Reach water works will remain shut on Saturday afternoon, affecting supply to areas such as Lake Gardens, Behala and Thakurpukur. The Garden Reach facility will be connected to the newly built 1.5 million gallon capacity booster pumping station at Parnasree Park on Saturday. The water supply to the affected areas will resume on Sunday morning.
Train disruption
• SEALDAH: Train services on the Sealdah-Ranaghat route were affected on Friday as passengers squatted on the tracks between Kanchrapara and Halisahar stations protesting the decision to increase the number of women-only compartments in local trains. The demonstration at Kanchrapara began around 8.15am and at Halisahar, an hour later. Several local trains, including the Sealdah-Krishnagar, Sealdah-Gede and Sealdah-Ranaghat, were delayed. Seven pairs of local trains had to be cancelled. The protests were withdrawn late in the afternoon. The Eastern Railway has increased the number of women-only coaches from two to three in 12-coach trains and from one to two in nine-coach trains.
Three injured
• RED ROAD: Three persons were injured in a road accident on Red Road involving an ambulance and a Tata Ace early on Friday. Police said the Tata Ace rammed into the ambulance from behind. The drivers of both vehicles and the helper of the Tata Ace were injured. All three have been admitted to the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital.
Cheat slur on fitness centre
• BAGUIATI: Members of a gym called Fitness Centre near Raghunathpur on VIP Road have lodged a complaint of cheating against the owner(s) after finding the establishment shut without prior notice. The complaint, lodged on Friday at Baguiati police station, states that each member had paid Rs 25,000 as enrolment fee. Several calls by Metro to the gym went unanswered.
Roadblock
BANDEL: Toto operators put up a roadblock at GT Road More in Bandel, Hooghly, on Friday to protest the police's failure to trace a driver who went missing three days ago. The missing person's vehicle was found with blood stains on it beside Chinsurah jail. Police said a group of around 100 drivers and some friends of Rajesh Mohali, the missing person, blocked the thoroughfare for around 40 minutes. The roadblock was withdrawn after the police intervened. Rajesh is in his mid-thirties.
Body found
• MADHYAMGRAM: A 27-year-old homemaker was found hanging in a room of her house at Abdalpur in Madhyamgram on Friday morning. Mousumi Das's parents have filed a complaint accusing her husband and in-laws of murdering her. Mousumi's husband was arrested later in the day, but six others named in the complaint are absconding. Mousumi's parents alleged that their daughter was tortured for dowry.
Partha to meet Presi alumni
CALCUTTA : The Presidency Alumni Association will meet education minister Partha Chatterjee on Saturday to discuss ways to arrest the decline of Presidency University. A large number of seats at the university have remained vacant this year. The meeting will be held in the Assembly complex. The minister had last month asked Presidency to explain why seats had remained vacant in the undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
Train service
SANTRAGACHHI: The November 16 Chennai Central-Santragachi AC Express will run as scheduled, an Eastern Railway official said. The train had been cancelled earlier because of upgrade work at Kharagpur station.
Man injured
• HASTINGS: A man was found lying unconscious on AJC Bose Road near Turf View early on Thursday. Preliminary investigation suggested he was hit by a vehicle. Cops later identified him as Imran Hossain, 31, who lives in Kustia Masjid Bari Lane. He is being treated at SSKM Hospital.
Trains cancelled
• SANTRAGACHHI: Work on upgrade at Kharagpur station will disrupt train services on November 19. The Santragachi-Chennai Special, Howrah-Ranchi Special and Rajkot-Santragachi Special are some of the trains that have been cancelled, a South Eastern Railway official said.
17 arrested
• DAKSHINESHWAR:Seventeen people were arrested when police busted an alleged sleaze racket operating out of a multi-storey house in Dakshineshwar on Friday. Five minor girls were rescued, said an officer of the Barrackpore commissionerate.