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Journalism of Courage
Kolkata Mayor Subrata Mukherjee who received laurels from West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee for his work, was praised by Rajhastan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia last week, for his KMC work, while talking to Kolkata Deputy Mayor and BJP leader Meena Devi Purohit. The deputy mayor met Raje when she was in the city for a seminar. Raje, who said she was quite impressed with the work of Kolkata Municipal Corporation KMC8212;particularly in areas of retrieving huge amounts of pending tax, cleaning and repairing of roads8212;said she herself would visit the headquarters of KMC on April 26, on her next visit to Kolkata, and meet Mukherjee and other officials. Also, ahead of her visit, Raje is sending the mayor of Jaipur along with a team of his officials, to visit the KMC office. It has to be seen whether all these from the saffron will do any good for Mukherjee, a Trinamool Congress leader, in the next KMC elections slated for June 19 this year.
Target judiciary
8216;8216;Some judges are hand-in-glove with lawyers and that is mainly the reason for so many cases pending in these land tribunals. They just do not want the cases to be finished in time. I know this is going on for a long time,8217;8217; the CPIM Minister said. The Minister, known for his candid talk earlier, ruffled the feathers of employees of his department when he said that many of them were corrupt.
Pakistani fish to fry
He was the only supporter from Pakistan who kept cheering on the Pakistan team during the recently-concluded India-Pakistan Test match at Eden Gardens. But Mohammad Jalil, the Pakistani barracker seen at most of Pakistan8217;s matches, did his job earnestly. What was more, he even won the hearts of all the Indian fans by freely mingling with them8212;waiving Indian flags and shouting slogans like 8220;India jeetega8221;. Indian fans gathered around him seeking his autograph. Barely had Jalil Chacha8212;as he is popularly called8212;expressed his desire to taste maach-bhat rice and fish curry, invitations poured in from at least 50 people.
Stars above
The burgeoning trade of astrologers in the state received a jolt recently, when the police arrested a popular astrologer, Acharya Satyananda, on charges of provoking his disciples to kill Prabir Ghosh, a prominent leader of the state, through a private TV channel. Satyananda issued the threat, asking his disciples to lynch Ghosh during one of the regular shows on astrology on the TV channel. A scared Ghosh lodged an FIR with the police, which later arrested Satyananda. Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee, reacting to the incident, said he was keen on bringing a legislation to stop this trade. He also condemned the TV channel for having allowed the telecast.
Compiled by Sabyasachi Bandopadhyay
