HC Asks State To Clarify No-Confidence Motion

Calcutta High Court on Wednesday asked the state to clarify if a no-confidence motion against a municipality chairperson can be moved in quick succession. The Kandi municipality board is locked at nine councilors for Trinamool and nine for Congress and CPI(M) combined. The changed law also makes it necessary that the fresh motion has to be brought by a majority of the councilors. 

State counsel Joydeep Kar and additional solicitor-general Laxmi Gupta assured the court they would reply by Thursday. Trinamool has amended The West Bengal Municipal Act, 1993, giving the municipality chairperson a six-month breather till a motion of no-confidence can be moved after they assume office.

Justice Dipankar Dutta directed that the investigating officer in the alleged abduction of Debajyoti Roy be present in court tomorrow along with the case diary. The State counsel earlier told the court that three FIRs, one by the family members, another by the staff members of the school where Roy taught and yet another by the headmaster of the school, had been filed before the Kandi police station.

Roy, an independent councilor at Kandi, was said to have played a pivotal role for a trust vote for the position of chairman of the municipal body of Kandi, after the Left and Trinamool Congress were evenly tied at nine members each. Roy was rescued from abductors by the police at a road check-point from a car in the early hours of Sunday. The Independent councilor was allegedly kidnapped by Trinamool activists on February 16.

Direct Flights Between Kolkata And Port Blair Launched

Air India has announced the launch of weekly flights from Kolkata to Port Blair with effect from February 25.

The charter flight AI 3707 has been scheduled to depart Kolkata at 9pm and will reach Port Blair at 11pm. The return flight has been scheduled to depart Port Blair at 11.40pm, and will arrive in Kolkata at 1.25am.

The launch of the flights by Air India could prove beneficial not only for the residents of Kolkata, but travelers from all other parts of the country as it will be a major addition to direct connectivity between the Indian mainland and the Islands. This might also push up the number of tourist arrivals in the already-popular destination. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands have always been a traveler's favorite, not only among Indians but the global tourists as well. The Islands are known to have pristine beaches, scenic landscapes, lavish vegetation, a rich coral reef ecosystem and teeming wildlife, all of which is accompanied by a fine tropical weather.

Air India, in fact, had pioneered the night landing operations in Port Blair, by carrying out Safety Risk Assessments through a test flight to check the viability of night operations to Port Blair. 

Andaman and Nicobar Islands also provide wonderful opportunities for adventure sports like snorkeling and sea-walking. In Port Blair, the places which are mostly visited by tourists are the Cellular Jail, Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park, Andaman Water Sports complex, Chatham Saw Mill, Mini Zoo, Corbyn's cove, Chidiya Tapu, Wandoor Beach, Forest Museum, Anthropological Museum, Fisheries Museum, Naval Museum (Samudrika), Ross Island and Viper Island among others.

Neerja Becomes Tax Free In Maharashtra

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday declared Neerja a tax free movie. MP Poonam Mahajan and Fadnavis met Sonam Kapoor, Atul Kasbekar and the film’s director, Ram Madhvani and after watching the film, decided to award it a tax-free status in Maharashtra.

Since Maharashtra has one of the largest numbers of Bollywood film viewers and also the highest entertainment tax in the country, therefore it has been considered a great move to make the movie tax free.

The film chronicles the real life incident of the hijacking of Pan Am Flight 73 in Karachi, Pakistan by Abu Nidal Organization on September 5, 1986. Chief flight attendant Neerja Bhanot thwarted the hijack attempt by preventing the plane from taking off and saved the lives of 360 hostages. Posthumously, she became the youngest recipient of India's highest peacetime military award for bravery, the ‘Ashok Chakra’.

Meanwhile, Kapoor, who has been heaped with praises for bringing Neerja Bhanot to life on screen, was more than happy to share a picture of Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai at the special screening of the film. Malala watched the film in London.  Kapoor, who is glad that Malala liked the film, took it to Instagram to share her feelings, “Malala said ‘I am stronger than fear’ and for #Neerja fear gave her courage! Thank you #MalalaYousafzai for attending a private screening of #Neerja in London. I’m so glad you liked the film.” 

Neerja Bhanot lives on in the hearts of people even after 30 years of her death – her act of bravery continues to inspire millions of people.

Rare Caesarean Section Delivery For Baby Gorilla At British Zoo

In one of a kind operation, a British zoo witnessed the birth of a Western Lowland gorilla by a 'rare’ caesarean section.

Veterinarians at Bristol zoo in western England called in expert medical help after the mother Kera showed signs of potentially life-threatening pre-eclampsia. Professor David Cahill, a gynecologist at a nearby hospital who has delivered hundreds of babies by caesarean but never a gorilla, was drafted in to perform the operation, one of just a handful ever carried out worldwide. "Having been involved with the care of these gorillas over the years, with some trepidation and excitement, we were invited to the zoo to assess the well-being of Kera, because she was in late pregnancy and showed some signs of being unwell," said Cahill, who is also a professor in reproductive medicine and medical education at Bristol University.

The now 11-day-old gorilla is being cared for “around the clock” by the zoo’s veterinary team.

The gorilla’s mother, Kera, appeared to be facing medical complications, so the zoo decided to deliver the baby through caesarean section, John Partridge, senior curator of animals at the zoo, said in a statement. He said, “It wasn’t a decision that we took lightly.” “We needed to act fast in order to give the best possible treatment to mother and baby, and to avoid the possibility of losing the baby,” he further added.

The baby, who is yet to be named, weighed just over two pounds, ten ounces. She is said to be doing well now after having some difficulty breathing independently. She was helped in the breathing process by the team.

The baby gorilla is not on display and the zoo authorities did not say when she might be ready to meet the public. The survival of the baby is seen as a miracle by the veterinarians.

India-USA May Sign Deals In Defense & Communications – Pacific Command

In what could come as a big boost to bi-lateral ties, USA is close to signing three foundational agreements with India in fields of defense and communications.

Speaking on the issue, USA Pacific Command Commander Admiral Harry Harris said: “We were moving out aggressively in technical field with DTTI (Defense Technology and Trade Initiative).” “There are some what we call foundational agreements that have to be executed with partner nations in order to move, quote unquote, 'to the next level'. And we are working with India on the signing of those foundational agreements,” he further added. Giving his testimony before the House Committee on Armed Services, Harris said, “Another one is called the CISMOA (Communications and Information Security Memorandum of Agreement), and it involves communications security so that we can be assured that India will protect our communications as we would protect theirs.”

He concluded: "So these are foundation agreements that we enact with every country we work with. We have not gotten to the point of signing them with India, but I think we're close. We're closer now than we ever have been, and I'm encouraged by what I'm hearing from my colleagues in India and I look forward to having that discussion with them when I go there next week." 

The USA Pacific Command is a unified combatant command of the United States armed forces responsible for the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. It is the oldest and largest of the unified combatant commands.

Asia Cup: Rohit Sharma & Ashish Nehra Lead India to Victory

Rohit Sharma and Ashish Nehra led India to victory at the premiere match of the Asia Cup 2016 as India defeated Bangladesh by 45 runs.

After winning the toss, Bangladesh chose to field. Facing a pacer-friendly wicket, the Indian squad scored a challenging 166 for six, with Rohit scoring his runs under pressure after they were reduced to 42 for three at one stage.

Rohit Sharma’s 83 run off 55 balls set the path for India’s win. He scored exactly 50 per cent of India's total of 166.  India went from 42 for 3 after 10 overs to 166 for 6 in 20. Rohit scored 62 of those off 26 balls on his way to a match-winning 83 off 54 deliveries.  He was also declared the “Man of the Match’. Hardik Pandya was another notable contributor when he scored 31 runs off 18 balls.

In reply, the Bangladeshi squad was never in the game being restricted to 121 for seven in the stipulated 20 overs in their hometown ground of Shere Bangla National Stadium at Dhaka. Ashish Nehra (3/23) was literally unplayable with his variations as well as brisk pace that he generated. He was on a hat-trick in his final over.

On his win, Indian team captain M S Dhoni said: "When Hardik went in, he started playing the big shots. At that time, Rohit made sure that he got a little more strike and he himself will be there till the end.“He used the pace of the bowler...I feel that was the kind of batting that was really needed and because of which Hardik could also express himself. We got those extra 15-20 runs. Otherwise we thought that 140 would be a very good score.”

Tuesday will see Sri Lanka playing against UAE. India’s next match is with Pakistan on February 27.

Rail Budget 2016 : More Culinary Options For Passengers

The much anticipated Railway Budget of 2016 might see Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu offer more culinary options for passengers.

Speaking on the issue, a senior Railway Ministry official said: “We want to give passengers a variety of choice in terms of local food while traveling in trains and not limit them to the food available in our pantry service. We want to shift our focus on to the local vendors rather than going for big food chains.”

More focus is being put on tie-ups with local vendors for offering a culinary choice to passengers, as part of an attempt to bolster its e-catering business. Big brands of food chain companies like KFC, Dominos and e-commerce companies like TravelKhana.com and food portal FoodPanda have tied-up with Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation to provide food on train.

In a pre-budget discussion, former Railway Board Chairman Arunendra Kumar said: “I have seen a lot of queries from start-up companies that are interested in developing a mobile application for e-catering. If I pass through Rajasthan, why can’t I have Sarso Ka Saag or Bajre Ki Roti at the stations where train stops? Why should I take the same food that I always have from the pantry?” He concluded that there are a lot of start-up companies that can develop a mobile application for passengers to track the e-catering facility.

The Railway Budget today will be the second one presented by Prabhu and the third by the National Democratic Alliance government.