The tree was planted by freedom fighter Parul Mukherjee about 70 years ago. Photo: Debalina Majumder

Kolkata:

The parents of the woman doctor raped and killed at Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital last year, are not keen on the death penalty for the man held guilty, their lawyer has told the Calcutta High Court. They, however, refused to confirm it to reporters. 

The woman’s parents, however, demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, sparking off a massive political row. 

The West Bengal government and the investigating agency – the Central Bureau of Investigation — have appealed for death sentence for the convict. The court will decide on whose petition it will proceed with. 

“The CBI is not working at all and this proved by the judgement copy of the Sealdah court. I can’t say more than this. Who will we go to? The state police let us down and now the CBI is letting us down. Whom do we go to? I leave it to the judge of the High Court to decide,” the woman’s father told reporters.

“The parents — we understand their sentiments. We have nothing to tell them. I remember once even Hon’ble Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that if my resignation is going to give her justice, that I am ready to do,” said Dr Shashi Panja, the state’s Women and Child Development Minister.

“But don’t we see a kind of a mahaul (environment) which the political parties in Opposition to us are trying to create. They are trying to get advantage of a rape and murder and it is so unfortunate,” the minister added.

Senior Trinamool leader and minister Firhad Hakim has alleged the parents are saying things dictated by political rivals and unfairly targeting the Chief Minister. 
 

This is a tribute by a fanboy who would memorise and recite many poems of Pritish Nandy (Da) since the 1970s. Dada, travel well on your ‘Lonesong Street’.

“When you’ve crossed the bustling mainstreets of everever land
You reach a lonesome sandstrip called the nevernever strand
Then you take the turning left
And you take the turning right
And where the twilight breaks you turn your ragged sight…
Round the duskfall where it’s blue
Lonesong Street waits for you…”

When He Attended My Father’s Funeral

As a teenager in high school in Calcutta, I always carried a ruled exercise book (khata) in my school bag. Poems had to be composed. This is what dreams were made of. The inspiration was never TS Eliott, or WH Auden, or Robert Frost. Our folk hero, Pritish Nandy, was in his twenties. He wrote poems about the city he lived in and loved. It is unbelievable that five decades ago, he released an audio album of his poems read by Mallika Sarabhai and himself, with music composed by Ananda Shankar. Today’s iTunes and Spotify fans who can upload a song with just a few clicks will find it difficult to even understand or comprehend the level of commitment and passion that was required to produce an audio LP (vinyl) 50 years ago.

Pritish da was a smorgasbord of knowledge, erudite, incisive, and always entertaining. The funny thing was, he was too old to be my buddy and too young to be my father’s buddy. Yet, Pritish da always had time for the O’Briens of Kolkata. I was overwhelmed when he landed up, unannounced, for my father’s funeral in 2016. In the middle of summer, he attended the service in Church and was at the burial: “I just had to be here to say farewell to your father, Neil”. And as the sun set on that balmy summer afternoon at the Lower Circular Road Cemetery, in central Kolkata, there stood Pritish da near three of my uncles who were English professors. We weren’t surprised that the beat poet of our generation was still quoting lines of immortal verse. How perfectly appropriate. Thomas Grey’s Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard.

“The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,
The lowing herd wind slowly o’er the lea,
The ploughman homeward plods his weary way,
And leaves the world to darkness and to me.”

Poet, painter, publisher, producer, parliamentarian, Padma Shri, he was a maverick in the truest sense of the word.

We had a long chat a few months ago during the pujo of 2024. I was trying to convince him to write his autobiography. There were so many stories that had to be told:

• A plane ride from Mumbai where he was seated next to a media baron. The chance meeting changed his life
• The story behind Balasaheb Thackeray sending him to the Rajya Sabha on a Shiv Sena ticket in 1998
• His favourite anecdotes from his days as editor of The Illustrated Weekly of India. Also, Filmfare, The Independent
• The creation and growth of Pritish Nandy Communications
• His love for stray dogs
• The wonderful women in his life (chuckle)

During the call, I remember asking him what he would most like to be remembered as—poet, publisher, editor, movie mogul, pet lover, or media personality. He was very clear: being a poet topped them all.

Let’s leave you with a poem Pritish Nandy wrote about a city he deeply loved, despite all its imperfections.

“Calcutta if you must exile me wound my lips before I go
Only words remain and the gentle touch of your finger on my lips Calcutta burn my eyes before I go into the night
The headless corpse in a Dhakuria bylane the battered youth his brains blown out and the silent vigil that takes you to Pataldanga Lane where they will gun you down without vengeance or hate
Calcutta if you must exile me burn my eyes before I go
They will pull you down from the Ochterlony monument and torture each broken rib beneath your upthrust breasts they will tear the anguish from your sullen eyes and thrust the bayonet between your thighs
Calcutta they will tear you apart Jarasandha-like
They will tie your hands on either side and hang you from a wordless cross and when
your silence protests they will execute all the words that you met and synchronised
Calcutta they will burn you at the stake
Calcutta flex the vengeance in your thighs and burn silently in the despair of flesh
If you feel like suicide take a rickshaw to Sonagachhi and share the sullen pride in the eyes of women who have wilfully died
Wait for me outside the Ujjala theatre and I will bring you the blood of that armless leper who went mad before hunger and death met in his wounds
I will show you the fatigue of that woman who died near Chitpur out of sheer boredom and the cages of Burrabazar where passion hides in the wrinkles of virgins who have aged waiting for a sexless war that never came
Only obscene lust remains in their eyes after time has wintered their exacting thighs
And I will show you the hawker who died with Calcutta in his eyes
Calcutta if you must exile me destroy my sanity before I go”

(Derek O’Brien, MP, leads the Trinamool Congress in the Rajya Sabha)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author

Over 64 per cent of the iconic yellow taxis in Kolkata will be off the roads by March 2025 due to the 15-year service limit imposed by the state transport department. As per records of the state transport department currently there are around 7,000 registered yellow taxis in the state. Out of them around 4,500 will have to be taken off the roads as per pollution norms that bars vehicles of 15 years old or above from moving on the roads.

These yellow taxis, all Ambassadors, were earlier produced by Hindustan Motors Limited (HML) at the company’s manufacturing unit, Hind Motor in the Hooghly district of West Bengal.

However, since the company has stopped manufacturing this particular brand there is no chance of their replacements.

ALSO READ | Kolkata’s Trams: How City’s 151-Year-Old “Glory” Is Dying A Slow Death

There is confusion on the exact year when the yellow taxis were for the first time introduced on the roads of Kolkata. Some records of the state transports say that probably 1908 was the year when the first yellow taxi started operating on the streets of Kolkata with the per-mile cost for availing its service being fixed at 50 paise.

However, the Calcutta Tax Association adopted Ambassador as the Standard Tax Model in 1962. Clear visibility of the colour even after the sunset was the reason for choosing yellow as the colour of the taxis

The popularity of yellow taxis has been down for quite a few years now because of the introduction of the app cabs that provide better comfort rides. However, considering the nostalgia associated with the yellow taxis the state transport department is trying to work out a formula to keep that reminiscence alive to an extent and as far as possible.

“Getting Ambassador models back on the streets is out of the question since the company manufacturing it has stopped the production of this brand now. However, the owners holding the permits of old yellow taxis will be able to get new commercial transport permits against the old ones. Thereafter any owner, he or she, whoever wants to get yellow as the colour for that commercial vehicle would be allowed to do that by virtue of special permission from the state transport department. However, all these are at the drawing-board stage now and need discussions with the taxi associations,” said an official of the state transport department.

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

Kolkata:

The woman, whose severed head was found at a garbage dump in south Kolkata’s Tollygunge area, was allegedly killed by her brother-in-law as she had snubbed his advances, police said on Saturday.

Cracking the case within 24 hours, Kolkata Police arrested the brother-in-law, identified as Atiur Rahman Laskar, from his native village, Basuldanga, in Diamond Harbour in South 24 Parganas district.

Police claimed that Laskar, a construction worker, confessed to killing the woman who was separated from her husband two years ago.

While the severed head of the woman was found in a garbage dump near Graham Road on Friday, the torso and the lower portion of the body were found on Saturday beside a pond in the Regent Park area, DCP (South Suburban) Bidisha Kalita told a press conference.

The woman, who worked as a domestic help in the Regent Park area, used to commute to work every day along with her brother-in-law who also used to work in Tollygunge, she said.

Laskar wanted a relationship with her, and as she spurned his advances, he got furious, the DCP said.

“She started avoiding him a week back and it added to his rage. She also blocked his phone number. On Thursday evening, after she was done with work, he forced her to accompany him to an under-construction building. He strangulated her there and then beheaded her. He cut the body in three parts and dumped those,” Kalita said.

“The woman was aged around 35-40. It is also being investigated if other people were involved,” he said.

Police had earlier said that the woman was in a relationship with the accused, and a complication arising out of it led to the murder.

The discovery of the severed head had sent shockwaves in the middle-class neighbourhood in the southern part of the city.

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

Canadian singer-songwriter Bryan Adams, currently in India for his So Happy It Hurts Tour 2024, performed in front of a sold-out crowd at Kolkata’s Aquatica water park complex on Sunday (Dec 7). From Everything I Do (I Do It For You) to Please Forgive Me to the ever-popular Summer of ’69’, the singer pulled all stops to enthral the audience with the reaction leaving him astonished as well. “Is it always like this when you come and play at Kolkata?” asked Mr Adams rhetorically during the concert before adding: “Then I got to come back more often.”

The fans, who had queued up for hours before the concert, took to social media to share the unbridled joy they got from watching one of the Rock legends perform live in front of them.

“Bryan Adams in Kolkata! That’s the real ‘Summer of ’69’ meets ‘Winters of 24C’! Just witness the Rock n Rosogolla,” said one user, while another added: “My Instagram is exploding with #bryanadamsconcert at #kolkata!! And almost everybody sharing #summerof69!!”

A third commented: “Canadian Rock legend Bryan Adams and his band has mesmerised the citizens Kolkata, Bengal today with his electrifying and blazing performance.”

Bryan Adams in Kolkata! that’s the real ‘Summer of ’69’ meets ‘Winters of 24°C’!
Just witness the Rock’ n Rosogolla.#bryanadamslive

— @SelimAktar (@SelimsTalk) December 8, 2024

Since allegedly “nothing happens in Kolkata” according to learned folks, here is Bryan Adams, about whom one needs no introduction! At Kolkata today!pic.twitter.com/hAQinvZk0l

— Dr Aratrika Ganguly (@aratrika_g08) December 8, 2024

Live at Bryan Adams concert #Kolkata pic.twitter.com/uSmIPDMcJb

— zarina ahmed زرینہ احمد (@monerief) December 8, 2024

Bryan Adams returns to India

Kolkata’s performance marked Mr Adams’ sixth visit to India but his first performance in the eastern city. He had previously visited India in 1993-94, 2001, 2006, 2011, and 2018. The two-time Grammy Awards winner will tour six more cities across the country over the next nine days.

In the lead-up to the concert, Mr Adams, in an exclusive conversation with NDTV said that it was the “warmth of the Indian audience” that kept him coming back. “The energy at every concert is unmatched.”

“India’s diversity makes each concert unique. When I perform here, it’s all about embracing the local energy and connecting with people on a deeper level.”

Also Read | Exclusive: Bryan Adams On Performing In India For 6th Time: “The Warmth Of The Indian Audience Keeps Me Coming Back”

Concert dates for the India leg:

• December 8: Kolkata, Aquatica
• December 10: Shillong, Bhoirymbong RBDSA sports complex
• December 12: Gurugram, Backyards Sports Club
• December 13: Mumbai, NESCO Goregaon
• December 14: Bengaluru, Terraform
• December 16: Hyderabad, GMR Arena
• December 17: Goa, Bambolim Athletic Stadium

Kolkata:

The seven-month-old daughter of a homeless couple was allegedly raped in Kolkata, police said on Wednesday.

The incident came to light after a person called the Burtolla police station on November 30 to report that a girl was sitting alone on the footpath outside his house, crying profusely, they said.

“The parents of the toddler had also approached us. We took the child to the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital where doctors were shocked to see the injury marks near her private parts. There were several scratch marks on her body as well, indicating sexual molestation. We have started an investigation,” a police officer told PTI.

The toddler has been admitted to the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital where she is under treatment, he said.

“Initial investigation revealed that the baby was picked up from the footpath, and taken somewhere and raped. It could be the work of some vagabonds. After the crime was committed, she was dropped again. We are checking the CCTV footage and also talking to the people of the area,” he said.

Efforts were being made to arrest the accused, he added.

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

Agartala:

A day after a Kolkata hospital decided not to treat patients from Bangladesh over alleged atrocities against minority Hindus, a multi-specialty healthcare facility in Agartala followed suit on Saturday.

Agartala-based ILS Hospital, which has been a popular destination for patients from the neighbouring country due to its proximity and affordable treatment costs, said the decision was taken over atrocities against Hindus and disrespect to the national flag in Bangladesh.

On Friday, JN Ray Hospital in north Kolkata stopped treating patients from the neighbouring country for the same reasons.

ILS hospital chief operating officer Gautam Hazarika said, “We extend full support to the demand of suspension of treatment to people from Bangladesh at our health facility. Our help desks at Akhaura check post and ILS hospitals have been closed from today onwards.”

Hazarika’s remarks came in response to a group of people who had staged a protest at the hospital, demanding that the facility stop providing medical services to Bangladeshi citizens, citing disrespect towards the Indian flag and growing concerns over the treatment of Hindus in the neighbouring country.

One of the protestors said, “Disrespect to the Indian national flag and attacks on minorities is totally unrespectable. Fundamentalists are imparting training to students on how to disrespect our national flags.”

The protestor added, “We appeal to other institutions to stop providing any services to Bangladesh citizens.” “Seeing the tricolour being insulted, we have decided to stop treating Bangladeshis. India has played an important role in their independence but despite that, we are witnessing anti-India sentiments. We hope other hospitals will support us and take similar steps,” JN Ray Hospital official Subhranshu Bhakt said on Friday. 

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

Kolkata:

West Bengal Governor Ananda Bose, facing a backlash over reports that he unveiled his own statue in Kolkata last week, has put out a denial.

In a clarification on X, the Governor said that the statue was only “presented to him” at the event.

“In some media reports, it has come out that HG (Honourable Governor) has ‘unveiled his own statue’ at Raj Bhavan. The fact is as follows: Many artists submit their artistic creations to HG. Many painters made HG’s portraits and presented to him. Similarly, a creative sculptor had created a sculpture of HG and presented to HG,” the Kolkata Raj Bhavan said.

“This has been unfortunately been described as unveiling his own statue,” the post added.

In some media reports it has come out that HG has ‘unveiled his own statue’ at Raj Bhavan on 23.11.2024.

The fact is as follows:

Many artists submit their artistic creations to HG. Many painters made HG’s portraits and presented to him. Similarly a creative sculptor had…

— Raj Bhavan Media Cell (@BengalGovernor) November 24, 2024

The statue was made by sculptor Partha Saha. It was unveiled at the Indian Museum in Kolkata on November 23.

In tweets, Indian Museum said the bust was “unveiled by His Excellency himself”

“In alignment with HE’s vision to foster creativity and cultural appreciation, we proudly hosted the unveiling of a bust of the Dr. C. V. Ananda Bose, Hon’ble Governor of West Bengal. Sculpted by the talented Shri Partha Saha of the Indian Museum, was unveiled by H.E. himself,” said one tweet.

On November 23, 2024, Indian Museum embraced the spirit of #ApnaBharatJagtaBengal on the twenty-third day of our month-long celebration, to mark the commencement of Dr. C. V. Ananda Bose, the Hon’ble Governor of West Bengal’s third-year in office, as visionary leader of state. pic.twitter.com/qNg7eGhu6Q

— Indian Museum (@IndianMuseumKol) November 23, 2024

The intricately crafted bust serves as a tribute to His Excellency’s contributions and his unwavering commitment to promoting art and heritage. This initiative underscores the museum’s dedication to preserving and celebrating excellence in the creative arts. pic.twitter.com/nIu7L6N5Ml

— Indian Museum (@IndianMuseumKol) November 23, 2024

In the photos shared by the Indian Museum, Mr Bose can be seen standing next to his bust. 

The Governor was slammed by many and accused of having an “inflated sense of self-importance”. Some opposition leaders from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) also reportedly accused Mr Bose of craving “publicity”.

“Post independence India never seen such preposterous event. One person appointed to a constitutional post is acting like a Roman Emperor,” TMC leader Jay Prakash Majumdar wrote on X.

 Some media reports later claimed that Mr Bose was attending an inaugural event of a painting exhibition inside the Raj Bhavan when the statue was presented to him.