Kolkata:

A man jumped in front of a moving train at Sovabazar station of Kolkata Metro Railway on Sunday, partially disrupting services on the Dakshineswar-New Garia corridor, an official said.

The incident took place around 4:10 pm, prompting the motorman to apply the brakes before the engine ran over him, while power supply to the third rail was snapped, he said.

The man, whose age and identity was not immediately known, was rescued and taken to a hospital.

Truncated services continued between Central-New Garia and Dumdum-Dakshineswar till 4:45 pm, the official said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

A woman took issue with a Bengali passenger, who spoke her native language instead of Hindi, on a Kolkata Metro train. “This is not Bangladesh,” she was heard telling the Bengali woman in a video that has since gone viral.

“You are in India,” the woman said. “West Bengal is a part of India, you must be learning Hindi. You can speak in Bengali but not in Hindi despite living in India?”

The Bengali woman responded in her native tongue, “I live in West Bengal, in my homeland, not yours. How can you stay in my state and insult me for speaking in Bengali?”

This fuelled the argument further, with the non-Bengali woman pressing the issue, “The metro is not yours. West Bengal is not yours.”

It got even more heated when the Bengali passenger hit back, saying, “The metro is mine, so is West Bengal. The metro here was made using the money of taxpayers in West Bengal, not by the tax paid by the people of your home state.”

As the argument escalated, the non-Bengali woman continued to challenge the Bengali passenger’s use of Bengali, repeatedly asking, “You are an Indian, right? Then why don’t you know Hindi?” This only angered onlookers, with several passengers stepping in and urging both women to calm down and de-escalate the situation.

However, the confrontation took a more sensitive turn when the non-Bengali woman brought Bangladesh into the discussion. “You are not in Bangladesh,” she said. This comment seemed to further rile up the other passengers, with several confronting her for her perceived disrespect toward the region.

Video from Kolkata Metro:
1. Do you see a Kannadiga, Marathi or a Bengali cause a ruckus demanding their language to be spoken by everyone, everywhere in India?
2. Is there a correlation between Hindi-speaking and muscle development in the brain? pic.twitter.com/4YZ3XB3ngM

— Goutam Dass (@GoutamDass) November 21, 2024

The video has since gone viral, sparking a furious reaction across the internet.

A user commented, “This is because we Bengal are so timid and tolerant towards every insult made to us. Had this incident occurred down the South, they would have shown her the right place. Hell with her arrogance. This was possible only because she was in Bengal.”

This is because we Bengal is are so timid and tolerant towards every insult made to us. Had this incident occurred down the South, they would have shown her the right place. Hell with her arrogance.This was possible only because she was in Bengal.

— Bipasha Ghosh (@Bipasha64222254) November 21, 2024

Someone said, “These people have become Hindi preachers and are speaking English themselves, what kind of people are they? What difference does it make in which language you speak? This lady should be booked for disrupting communal/lingual harmony and peace.”

हिंदी प्रीचर्स बने हैं और खुद अंग्रेजी भोंक रहे हैं, ये कैसे लोग हैं?
आप किस भाषा में बोल रहे हो उससे क्या फर्क पड़ता है?

This lady should be booked for disrupting communal / lingual harmony and peace.

— Vivek Pant (@vivekair) November 24, 2024

“Now they are speaking English in India. What kinda woke people are they?” a comment read.

Now they are speaking English in India. What kinda woke people are they?!! ????

— bikidas2060 (@Debashi07401424) November 22, 2024

This incident follows a similar controversy in Bengaluru, where a local man confronted a non-Kannada speaker for not learning the language despite having lived in the state for over 12 years. He accused the individual of being “disrespectful” to the local culture and language, saying, “You want a job here, you want a salary here, but you don’t want the language here.” He added, “At least learn Kannada, okay? This is Bengaluru, not Mumbai or Gujarat.”

Kolkata:

A Dakshineswar-bound Kolkata Metro train was stranded at Tollygunge Station in the older North-South corridor due to power disruption on Tuesday morning.

The movement of trains was regulated along the route in the busy morning hours till power was restored after around 14 minutes, a Kolkate Metro spokesperson told Press Trust of India.

“Due to power failure at Mahanayak Uttam Kumar Metro station in Tollygunge about 10:38 am, a Dakshineswar-bound train coming from New Garia was detained for 14 minutes. At 10:52 am, power supply was restored and normal service resumed,” he said.

Due to the snag in power connectivity, corresponding Dakshineswar-bound trains as well as those bound for Kavi Subhas in New Garia were regulated, he added.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today inaugurated India’s first underwater metro line in Kolkata and took a metro ride with school students.

In a video shared by the BJP on its official X account, PM Modi was seen interacting with students during the metro ride from Esplanade to Howrah Maidan.

He also spoke to the workers involved in the construction of the project.

PM Shri @narendramodi travels aboard India’s first underwater Metro in Kolkata, West Bengal. https://t.co/oUe7IAtkz8

— BJP (@BJP4India) March 6, 2024

He was accompanied by West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose and BJP leaders Suvendu Adhikari and Sukanta Majumdar.

India’s First Underwater Metro In Kolkata

The Howrah Maidan-Esplanade section of Kolkata Metro’s East-West corridor is India’s first venture into underwater metro services.

The Howrah Maidan-Esplanade section also has the deepest metro station in the country — the Howrah Metro Station.

It is nestled under the Hooghly River, which separates the twin cities of Kolkata and Howrah.

#WATCH | India’s first underwater metro rail service in Kolkata set to be inaugurated by PM Modi on 6th March pic.twitter.com/ib5938Vn8x

— ANI (@ANI) March 5, 2024

Kolkata Metro touched a milestone in April last year as its rakes completed a trial journey under the bed of Hooghly through a tunnel 32 metre below the water level for the first time in India.

Spanning a 4.8-km stretch between Howrah Maidan and Esplanade, it forms a vital segment of the East-West Metro corridor, connecting key areas such as the IT hub Salt Lake Sector V.

The 4.8-km stretch of East-West Metro from Howrah Maidan to Esplanade has been built at a cost of Rs 4,965 crore.

Of the total 16.6 km of the East-West Metro corridor, 10.8 km is underground, including the tunnel beneath the river.

A Metro train is expected to traverse the 520-metre stretch under the river in just 45 seconds.

According to officials, the work for the East-West corridor began in 2009 and tunneling under Hooghly commenced in 2017.

The Salt Lake Sector V to Sealdah stretch of the corridor is commercially operational at present.

PM Modi Inaugurates Various Projects

During the function at the Esplanade metro station, PM Narendra Modi also inaugurated the Kavi Subhash-Hemanta Mukhopadhyay section of the New Garia-Airport line and the Taratala-Majerhat section of the Joka-Esplanade line of the Kolkata Metro, the country’s oldest metro network.

PM Shri @narendramodi inaugurates, dedicates & lays foundation stone of projects in Kolkata, West Bengal. https://t.co/hnB7UjSikB

— BJP (@BJP4India) March 6, 2024

PM Modi also inaugurated the Duhai-Modinagar (North) section of the Delhi-Meerut RRTS Corridor, Pune Metro’s Ruby Hall Clinic-Ramwadi stretch, Kochi Metro’s SN Junction to Tripunithura section, and Agra Metro’s Taj East Gate-Mankameshwar section.

He also laid the foundation stone for the extension of the Pune Metro between Pimpri Chinchwad and Nigdi.