60-year-old Bangladeshi man staying in quarantine center dead

“The aged man had been suffering from various ailments and when he started suffering uneasy in the quarantine center, he was immediately taken to the Saktinagar district hospital where he died this morning”, said a health official adding, “We have collected swab samples from them for test. If the report is found negative, we will call his relatives living in Bangladesh to collect the body, but if the report comes positive, we will dispose of the body with maintaining the proper guidelines."

Biswabrata Goswami

Statesman News Service

KRISHNAGAR, 20 JUNE: A 60-year-old Bangladesh national died in the Saktinagar district hospital in Krishnagar today, possibly on Covid-19. He was shifted to the Bipradas Pal Chowdhury Institute of Technology quarantine center a few days ago from his relative’s house at Bhimpur under Bhimpur plice station limits.

A district health official said the man recently came to India with a valid passport and visa along with his wife. They had gone to Varanashi to visit the holy sites there and they recently returned to their relative’s house at Bhimpur. Two days ago, they were taken to the BPC institute of technology quarantine center as part of measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

“The aged man had been suffering from various ailments and when he started suffering uneasy in the quarantine center, he was immediately taken to the Saktinagar district hospital where he died this morning”, said a health official adding, “We have collected swab samples from them for test. If the report is found negative, we will call his relatives living in Bangladesh to collect the body, but if the report comes positive, we will dispose of the body with maintaining the proper guidelines."

Meanwhile, in an unprecedented incident, Saktinagar district hospital super, involved in a scuffle with a photographer, snatched away his camera and deleted photographs. He even threatened him and other photographers that he would call police if they didn’t leave the place immediately. The photographers had gone to the hospital as the nurses and sisters were conducting agitation against the hospital super.

Later, the district magistrate Vibhu Goel intervened and asked the chief medical officer of health Dr Paritosh Bandopadhyay to convene a meeting with the journalists. 

Dr Bandopadhyay on record admitted that the incident was unwanted and unfortunate. He also apologized before the journalists for this unwanted act.

He assured them that they would be able to do their jobs at every hospital across the district freely under their limitations and no one would interfere with them.

In the last 24 hours, the district has recorded 13 more positive cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of positive cases to 241. Two days ago, the district had recorded one of the single-day spikes with 16 Covid-19 positive cases. It had surpassed the daily count, which was recorded on 4 June of 15 cases. On 11 June, the district recorded the highest single-day spike with 20 Covid positive cases.

Today, the district has recorded 82 suspected cases, taking the total number of suspected cases to 4471 of them 44374 has already been released.

Courtesy: Images from iNET.

BGTA comes forward to provide study and relief materials to the students living at Amphan ravaged tribal hamlet - Muragacha in Ranaghat

Souren Bhattacharya, state secretary of BGTA informed that the organization is fighting against pay discrimination  at the same time  and they are also pursuing relief works to the distressed people all over the state.

Biswabrata Goswami

KRISHNAGAR, 20 JUNE: Online class is not the only responsibility that teachers are taking these days. Teachers under the banner of Brihattara Graduate Teachers’ Association are also looking after the students hit by the cyclone Amphan.

Teachers and members of Ranaghat OBR Brihattara Graduate Teachers’ Association, popularly known as BGTA, an association of Graduate teachers of West Bengal, have come forward to provide relief materials to the Amphan affected students and other children living at Muragacha, a tribal hamlet in Ranaghat-I block in Nadia.

As the area was badly ravaged by the super cyclone Amphan and several children of different schools lost their study materials along with household things, the BGTA’s Ranaghat unit conducted a relief camp there and distributed relief materials to them.

A total of 100 students were shortlisted and they were given study materials like copy book, pen, pencil and eraser and other relief materials like Horlics, biscuits, eggs and noodle packets.

Sraboni Dutta, a school teacher who had taken part in the relief camp said, “The area was badly affected by the cyclone Amphan. The children studying in different schools had lost their study materials during the cyclone. Once the idea of reaching out to the needy students was initiated, we were joined by few others who contributed money for the cause. Later, this idea gained momentum mainly through a word of mouth campaign and we the teachers under the banner of our organisation started contributing to the cause”.

“Our organisation has not only come forward to provide relief materials, we have donated Rs 5 lakh to the Chief Minister’s state relief fund and Rs 1 lakh to the Prime Minister’s relief fund”, Ms Dutta said.

Souren Bhattacharya, state secretary of BGTA informed that the organisation is fighting against pay discrimination  at the same time  and they are also pursuing relief works to the distressed people all over the state.

Nadia administration designates Ruipukur quarantine center as a new SARI hospital with a capacity of 50 beds

This apart, the T B hospital in Kalyani has been designated as SARI-level II hospital with a capacity of 300 beds. Glocal Hospital in Krishnagar will be elevated to level IV COVID Hospital and will treat only corona affected patients with a capacity of 150 beds. SNR Carnival Hospital in Nadia will be escalated to level IV COVID with 120 beds and will keep only affected patients.

Biswabrata Goswami

KRISHNAGAR, 18 JUNE: With the sudden rise in the number of corona affected persons in the district, the Nadia district administration has started operating the Ruipukur Karmatirtha quarantine center as a severe acute respiratory infected (SARI) hospital with a capacity of 50 beds from today.

This apart, the T B hospital in Kalyani has been designated as SARI-level II hospital with a capacity of 300 beds. This newly designated hospital will start functioning soon, a senior district health official said.

According to district health officials, Glocal Hospital in Krishnagar will be elevated to level IV COVID Hospital and will treat only corona affected patients with a capacity of 150 beds. SNR Carnival Hospital in Nadia will be escalated to level IV COVID with 120 beds and will keep only affected patients.

At present, the district has nine isolation centers – Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial hospital, Tehatta sub-divisional hospital, Ranaghat sub-divisional hospital, Chakdah state general hospital, Nabadwip state general hospital, Santipur state general hospital, Ruipukur SARI hospital, Nadia district hospital and Karmotirtha Karimpur-I. All these isolation centers have more than 300 beds in capacity.

Meanwhile, it is for the first time, two doctors and a nurse of Kalyani JNM hospital have tested positive for Covid-19. They have been admitted in the Beleghata ID hospital.

In the last 24 hours, the district has recorded one of the single-day spikes with 16 Covid-19 positive cases. It has surpassed the daily count, which was recorded on 4 June of 15 cases. On 11 June, the district recorded the highest single-day spike with 20 Covid positive cases.

Apart from this figure supplied by the district health department, at least four positive cases from different areas across the district have been reported before this correspondent by the concerned local people.

A considerable number of migrants returned from Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab and Gujarat to Nadia turned Covid-19 positive, giving the administration a shock on what to expect as the tide of returning workers continues in the coming days.

Makaut provides study materials to students of Amphan ravaged Gosaba in Sundarbans

Biswabrata Goswami

KRISHNAGAR, 17 JUNE: Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology (MAKAUT) has taken a noble initiative, to help the people who have lost everything because of the super cyclone Amphan that ravaged the state.

They have provided study materials to the students of Pakhirala High School at Gosaba, a remotely located government aided school in Sundarbans area. Since the locality of that school is very much affected due to the cyclone so the students have lost their books and other study materials and they can’t afford to purchase those again. On a request from the headmaster of the Pakhirala High School, the vice chancellor of MAKAUT, Prof. Dr. Saikat Maitra took the initiative to provide all the learning materials to the affected students of the school, a MAKAUT spokesperson said.

“Around 40 students of class ten will be benefited with these resources. It was organized under the supervision of Mr. Anup Mukherjee, Asst. Registrar, MAKAUT, Haringhata campus,” said the spokesperson.

The Covid and Amphan Contingency Team of MAKAUT, WB has reached out to the school and handed over all the learning materials such as 160 books, 120 note books, pens-pencils-erasers-school bags-hand sanitizers and napkins. The headmaster and the other school staff were present to receive these materials. This is not the first time that MAKAUT has extended their helping hands to the needy people, they had provided 200 raw food packets to the students of Adarsha Balika Shikshayatan (Jadavpur Kolkata) earlier also. Apart from these the local schools of Haringhata who are associated with MAKAUT, WB through Setu Bandhan programme for academic help are also being held out by the university. MAKAUT is being constantly approached by schools for such initiatives, the spokesperson added.

Subhendu Adhikari hits out at Union Civil Aviation Ministry for negligence of surveillance

Adhikari, the state transport minister, has expressed serious concern about the matter and said, “Even after testing positive, how could the two persons travel from Chennai and they were not prevented in both Chennai and Kolkata airports.”

Biswabrata Goswami

Hummingbird News

MIDNAPORE, 16 JUNE: The state transport minister Subhendu Adhikari, today, expressed his annoyance against the union civil aviation ministry over the matter where two persons managed to return home by air from Chennai after having tested positive for Covid-19.

He raised a question to the union civil aviation ministry about how they could skip medical surveillance at the airport and travel in a plane.

The two persons, who are mechanical engineers and work in Tamil Nadu’s Chingleput, reached Baroma Covid hospital at Mecheda in East Midnapore on 14 June and informed the security personnel of the hospital that they were Corona positive and needed to get admission in the hospital. The duo did not disclose the Covid-19 infection to the airport authorities and were not even identified during the thermal screening and other surveillance mechanisms.

The incident shocked the hospital administration and the duo got admitted after going through their reports. They are now getting treatment in the hospital.

“When the hospital staff enquired, they showed the reports of their Covid-19 tests which were positive. They said they wanted to get admitted to the hospital,” Adhikary said, adding, "Swabs of the two persons were collected on June 12 and it was tested in a laboratory in Chennai. The reports of the tests came positive the next day. They boarded the flight on 14 June. How could they skip the surveillance at the airport? Besides, why they were not admitted to a hospital in Chennai immediately after their reports came positive.”

The minister also accused the ICMR for the lapse saying the laboratory which conducted the tests functions under it.

Adhikari, the state transport minister, has expressed serious concern about the matter and said, “Even after testing positive, how could the two persons travel from Chennai and they were not prevented in both Chennai and Kolkata airports.”

They even hired a private vehicle from Kolkata to East Midnapore putting so many people at risk in the flight and also in Kolkata and East Midnapore.

“Who will assure that the duo did not affect others in the flight. Who will take responsibility for the incident”, he questioned.

Drawing flak against the Central government, the minister has written letters to Chennai and Kolkata airport authorities and the private airline company-Indigo.     

Courtesy: Images from iNET.

IIT-KGP directs faculty members not to write anything critical of govt

Hummingbird News

MIDNAPORE, 15 JUNE: The Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur, one of the country's premier educational establishments, asked all its faculty members not to participate in radio broadcasts or write anything on subjects critical of the state and central governments.

The circular, signed by institute registrar B N Singh, was issued on 6 June to all the faculty members and it said that the staff of IIT-Kharagpur is governed by conduct rules as laid down in the acts and statutes of the institute.

"It is not a new circular. It was passed in both the houses of Parliament in 1961. It is also therein the IIT rule book. But people don't read that these days and that is why we have to issue the circular from time to time to our faculty members for their knowledge," IIT-Kharagpur registrar Singh said.

Singh said that the directive is applicable to all IIT employees. It is an internal circular reminding about the conduct rules for all the staff of IITs.

"You have to understand one thing first that it is not a gag order at all. It is an internal practice of basic code of conduct," the registrar said.

According to the recently-issued circular, no employee of IIT-KGP shall, except with the previous sanction of the competent authority or any other authority empowered by it on this behalf, or in the bonafide discharge of his duties, participate in a radio broadcast or contribute any article or write any letter, in his own name or anonymously, to any newspaper or periodical.

The notification circular also said that no such sanction shall be required if such broadcast or contribution is "of a purely literary, artistic or of scientific character".
-IIT-KGP, iNET.

NIRF ranking 2020 : IIT Kharagpur ranks as India's number one architecture institute

Hummingbird News

MIDNAPORE, 14 JUNE: IIT Kharagpur has been ranked in the widest category of disciplines ranging from Engineering, Architecture, Management, Law in the NIRF Rankings 2020 by the Ministry of Human Resources Development, Govt. of India. While the Institute has been ranked the best in India in the category of Architecture, it has jumped one rank in the management discipline to be among the top five business schools in India. 

In Law it retains last year’s rank at the 4th position along with the overall and Engineering ranks at the 5th position. 

The Dept. of Architecture has been a clear winner in the areas of Graduation Outcomes, Peer Perception, and Outreach and Inclusivity. The Department has scored the best in the country in the metrics for University Examinations and Number of Ph.D. Students Graduated. 

Vinod Gupta School of Management, the business school of IIT Kharagpur has performed exceptionally well in the areas of Research and Professional Practice and Graduation Outcomes, while the law school which is one of its kind focussing typically on intellectual property law scores high on Teaching, Learning & Resources and Research and Professional Practice. 

Earlier this year Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur identified  institutional ranking as a thrust area. Dwelling on the issue of institutional ranking Director Tewari said,

“Our goal should be to compete with the top ten universities in the world to climb the ladder of global ranking. However, institutional ranking is a sum reflection of holistic performance and impact created by any higher educational institution. The past Directors’ advisory group will engage extensively towards this goal.”

Vinod Gupta who patronized both the management and law schools and initiated the disciplines in the IIT system calls it a remarkable achievement and the overall excellence of the academic, research and graduate outcome culture at IIT Kharagpur. He said,

“In my view the student intake largely with Engineering and Science backgrounds enable them to focus more on analytical skills in research and other projects which gives them the edge over other schools. Additionally, being part of the IIT KGP system the schools have successfully attracted best-in-class teaching faculty. This leads to the overall success of the schools.”

IIT-KGP.