Kolkata-born research scientist wins UK's popular baking show
London, Oct 31 : An Indian research scientist born in Kolkata has been crowned the winner of a popular baking show on British television after winning over the judges with his intricately-designed cakes and pastries.
Rahul Mandal was announced as the winner of Channel 4's 'Great British Bake Off' on Tuesday night after impressing the judges with his East meets West style of baking.
"I don't know whether to laugh or to cry. I just feel I need to talk with my mum," he said as the winning name was revealed.
The 30-year-old from Rotherham in northern England battled with disasters during the show's finale when his icing bag exploded during a doughnut challenge.
Soon after, his mixing bowl smashed while he was creating his rock garden, inspired by Victorian explorers bringing back exciting plants from around the world, for the "Edible Landscape" show-stopper challenge.
Despite the accidents, the taste and complexity of Mandal's baking saw him win over the judges as he beat fellow British Indian contestant Ruby Bhogal and Kim-Joy Hewlett in the grand finale of the long-running TV show.
"He is one of those characters that you will miss when you are not with him. I don't think he realises still how good he actually is and I think that's what's magic about Rahul," said celebrity chef Paul Hollywood, one of the judges.
Mandal, who grew up in Kolkata, started cooking and baking as a hobby only after he moved to the UK as a student.
"I never baked when I was in India. My baking journey began in the UK about five years ago when I was feeling lonely, and needed to do something along with my studies," he said.
"At that time, it was limited to making bread and biscuits. The first cake I made was about two years ago, when my parents visited the UK for the first time," he added.
Each year, amateur baking enthusiasts compete to get a spot among 12 bake-off contestants and spend nine weeks in a large tent to compete in a series of elimination rounds.
The winner is presented with a coveted cake stand trophy and the publicity from the show can result in a huge career boost for many of the contestants.
"Cooking programmes always interested me. Even as a child, rather than watching sports, I enjoyed watching cookery shows. I started cooking and experimenting with food from the age of 15, however, proper everyday cooking started since I moved to UK," Mandal said.
"I like the simple classics, sometimes with a little twist in it. My colleagues love my Lemon drizzle cake and its cousins like Lemon and cardamom drizzle cake, or lemon and elderflower drizzle cake -- they like them a lot," he said.
While baking is hobby, he sees a connect with his day job as a scientist as he believes meticulous planning and attention to detail come in handy for both.
"If it is something big, I develop and design it over the week and then execute it over the weekend," he said.
The final three contestants in the 2018 series were evenly matched for this year's finale, which attracted a lot of social media attention.
Fans were divided over Mandal being given an additional 15 minutes after he smashed his mixing bowl while creating his showstopper but the majority were rooting for the shy and humble scientist-baker.
The latest series proved a ratings success for Channel 4, which took over the show last year following its move from its original home on the BBC.
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'Low-quality' catheters supplied to West Bengal govt hospitals at high price, probe ordered
Kolkata (PTI): The West Bengal health department has launched a probe into the supplies of allegedly low-quality and locally made catheters at a high price to several government hospitals, posing a risk to the lives of patients undergoing treatment in these facilities, officials said.
Such central venous catheters (CVCs) were allegedly supplied to at least five medical colleges and hospitals in the state, defying allocation of international standard-compliant CVCs, they said.
The distribution company, which has been accused of supplying these catheters to government hospitals, admitted to the fault but placed the blame on its employees.
"We started checking stocks some time back and found these locally made CVCs in my hospital store. These catheters are of low quality as compared to those allocated by the state. We have informed the state health department," a senior official of the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital told PTI.
Low-quality catheters were also found in the stores of other hospitals, which indicates "possible involvement of insiders in the scam", a health department official said.
The low-quality CVCs were supplied by a distributor in the Hatibagan area in the northern part of Kolkata for the last three to four months, he said.
"Such kinds of local CVCs are priced around Rs 1,500 but the distributor took Rs 4,177 for each device," the official said.
A CVC is a thin and flexible tube that is inserted into a vein to allow for the administration of fluids, blood, and other treatment. It's also clinically called a central line catheter.
"An initial probe revealed that the distribution company Prakash Surgical had supplied the low-quality and locally manufactured catheters to several government hospitals instead of the CVCs of the government-designated international company.
"All the units will be tested and a proper investigation is on to find out who benefited from these supplies," the health department official said.
The distribution company blamed its employees for the supply of inferior quality catheters.
"I was sick for a few months. Some employees of the organisation made this mistake. We are taking back all those units that have gone to the hospitals. It's all about misunderstanding," an official of the distribution company told PTI.
According to another state health department official, a complaint was lodged with the police in this connection.
Asked about how many patients were affected by the usage of such low-quality CVCs, the official said, "The probe would also try to find that out".
According to sources in the health department, some of the staff of the hospitals' equipment receiving departments and some local officials of international organisations might be involved in the alleged irregularities.
