Cyclone Bulbul: 7 killed, normal life disrupted in West Bengal

News Network
November 10, 2019

Kolkata, Nov 10: Cyclone 'Bulbul', which barrelled through the coastal districts of West Bengal before hurtling towards Bangladesh, claimed at least seven lives in different parts of the state, official reports said on Sunday.

The severe cyclonic storm, which brought in its wake heavy rain coupled with gale wind till early Sunday, uprooted hundreds of trees and snapped cables in the city and its adjoining areas in North and South 24 Parganas and East Midnapore, bring life to a near-halt.

In North Parganas alone, five people were killed in separate incidents.

According to a senior police officer, a septuagenarian woman, Suchitra Mandal, died at Purba Makala village in Basirhat area of the district when a tree fell on her.

Several trees were also uprooted at Gokhna village, one of which claimed the life of Reba Biswas (47).

Manirul Gazi (59) was the third casualty in North 24 Parganas. He was electrocuted to death after coming in contact with a lamp post, the officer added.

Two more deaths, one due to wall collapse and another after coming under a falling tree, were also reported in the district, a state government official said.

In East Midnapore, too, a man died after he was crushed by a falling tree.

Earlier, on Saturday, even before the cyclone hit the coast, an employee of a renowned club in the city was killed when a branch of a cedar tree fell on him during heavy rain.

Torrential rain lashed the metropolis throughout Saturday, forcing people to remain indoors. Gale wind with gusts up to 135 kmph prevailed over the coastal districts of South 24 Parganas and East Midnapore and its adjoining areas in North 24 Parganas as the cyclone made landfall around midnight on Saturday.

Hundreds of uprooted trees have blocked thoroughfares in the state capital and its fringe areas, even as people braved the adverse conditions to come out of homes on Sunday afternoon as the weather improved.

The NDRF, along with the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), police and fire personnel, is working on a war footing to clear road blockades caused by fallen trees and branches.

"We have already engaged workers to clear the roads and pump out water from low-lying areas. We are hopeful our work will be over by tonight," said a KMC official.

State disaster management minister Javed Khan said all emergency services have been put in place to ensure that the uprooted trees are removed at the earliest.

According to the IMD, the very severe cyclonic storm had weakened into severe cyclonic storm before making landfall close to Sunderban Dhanchi forest.

"Yesterday's very severe cyclonic storm 'Bulbul' over northwest Bay of Bengal (BoB) moved northeastwards, weakened into a severe cyclonic storm and crossed West Bengal coast close to Sunderban Dhanchi forest during 8.30 pm to 11.30 pm with a maximum sustained wind speed of 110-120 kmph gusting to 135 kmph," it said in an official release.

The Met department also predicted light to moderate rainfall over the next six hours from 12.30 pm in North and South 24 Parganas, East Midnapore and Nadia districts.

In a tweet, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Sunday she would conduct an aerial survey of the affected areas around Namkhana and Bakkhali in South 24 Parganas.

"Due to the severe cyclonic storm 'Bulbul', I have decided to postpone my North Bengal visit in the coming week.

Instead, tomorrow I would take an aerial survey of the affected areas around Namkhana and Bakkhali.

"Later I would take a meeting at Kakdwip with administration to review relief and rehabilitation measures of the cyclone-affected people. I am also planning to visit the cyclone-affected areas of Basirhat of North 24-Parganas on 13 November, 2019," Banerjee tweeted.

State power minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay said measures were being taken to restore power supply in areas, where electric cables have been torn apart due to the cyclone.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee about the situation arising out of the cylone and assured the state of all assistance to deal with the calamity.

"Reviewed the situation in the wake of cyclone conditions and heavy rain in parts of Eastern India," the prime minister wrote on Twitter.

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News Network
May 7,2020

New Delhi, May 7: Food ordering and delivery platform Swiggy on Thursday said its co-founder and CTO Rahul Jaimini will move away from active role in the company during the month to pursue another entrepreneurial venture.

Jaimini will be joining Pesto Tech, a career accelerator start-up, as their co-founder, Swiggy said in a statement.

He will continue to be a shareholder and board member of Swiggy, it added.

Functions currently led by Rahul, including platform engineering, analytics, IT and labs, will be realigned to Dale Vaz, Head of Engineering and Data Science, who has been with the company for close to two years, the statement said.

"Technology was crucial to what we set out to build when we started Swiggy. Nandan (Reddy) and I could not have asked for a better partner to handle this aspect of the company," Swiggy co-founder and CEO Sriharsha Majety said.

It was Rahul's immense passion to 'build for the billions' that drove technological innovations that set Swiggy apart as we grew phenomenally over the years, he added.

"Working with technology that has large scale impact is what excites me, and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to do just this at Swiggy and grow tremendously over the years," Jaimini said.

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News Network
April 14,2020

New Delhi, Apr 14: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday requested young scientists of the country to come forward and take the lead in developing a vaccine for novel coronavirus which has claimed over one lakhs lives worldwide.

"While India has limited resources today. I have a special request for India's young scientists. They should come forward and take a lead in developing a vaccine for coronavirus for the welfare of the world, for the welfare of the human race," the Prime Minister said in the address to the nation.

He said that if people continue to be patient and follow rules then the country will be able to defeat even a pandemic like coronavirus.
Prime Minister Modi also announced that the country will remain under lockdown till May 3 to contain COVID-19 cases. The 21-day lockdown, which was announced by the Prime Minister last month, was slated to end today.

However, he indicated at easing of lockdown restrictions in places where there are no hotspots after April 20.

"Till 20th April, all districts, localities, states will be closely monitored, as to how strictly they are implementing norms. The states which will not let hotspots increase, they could be allowed to let some important activities resume, but with certain conditions," Modi said.

Odisha, Punjab, Maharashtra, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry have already announced the extension of lockdown.

India's total number of coronavirus positive cases has climbed to 10,363 including 8,988 active cases, 1,035 cured/discharged/migrated and 339 deaths, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said today.

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News Network
May 13,2020

New Delhi, May 13: Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement of Rs 20 lakh crore stimulus package "will go a long way in overcoming challenges" posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Welcome the Rs. 20 lakh crore stimulus package announced by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Bhai Modi Ji to revive economy, boost efficiency of various sectors through reforms & make India self reliant and resilient. #AtmaNirbharBharatAbhiyan," the Vice President tweeted.

Calling the reforms as the "need of the hour", he further said: "Bold reforms are the need of the hour to realize the dream of #AtmanirbharBharat."

Expressing confidence in the five-pillar approach, he said that it would help promote local industries "while making India face global competition effectively".

"I am confident that a focused approach on the five pillars- Economy, Infrastructure, Technology driven System, Vibrant Demography & Demand--will promote local industries led growth while making India face global competition effectively. #AtmaNirbharBharatAbhiyan," he said.

"I am certain this timely economic package will go long way in overcoming challenges posed by the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. #AtmaNirbharBharatAbhiyan #IndiaFightsCorona," he wrote on the micro-blogging site.

The Prime Minister had on Tuesday announced Rs 20 lakh crore special economic package for the country to become 'self-reliant' and deal with COVID-19.

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