Page 15 - West Bengal

WBSSC scam: Partha Chatterjee, Arpita's judicial custody extended to Oct 31

This means that the duo will spend not just the Durga Puja, but the entire festive season including Laxmi Puja, Kali Puja, Diwali, and Bhai Dooj behind the bars

Mamata Banerjee voices happiness over Bengal's Jal Jeevan Mission feat

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday expressed happiness that the state has been selected for its superlative performance in the 'quantity' parameter under the Centre's Jal Jeevan Mission scheme. She said the feat bears testimony to the pro-people approach of her government. I am pleased to announce that West Bengal has been selected for felicitation for exemplary performance in the 'Quantity' parameter under Jal Jeevan Mission, Banerjee said in a Twitter post. Jal Jeevan Mission under Union Jal Shakti Ministry is envisioned to provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections to all households in rural India by 2024. She also thanked the ministry for recognising the state's efforts. This award is a testament to the perseverance and commitment of the officials who prioritised public service. Upholding our pro-people approach, we will continue serving the state with utmost dedication, the chief minister said.

YouTuber arrested for meme on Mamata, search on for 7 more content creators

A 29-year-old YouTuber was arrested from West Bengal's Nadia district on Tuesday for allegedly creating memes on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee that were derogatory, police said. Tuhin Mondal, the content creator, was arrested from his house in Bapujinagar in Taherpur police station area by officers of the Kolkata Police's Intelligence Branch, they said. He was arrested on the basis of a complaint filed by a 21-year-old man at Taratala police station in south Kolkata a week back, they said. "Mondal, who has no steady income, is believed to have made provocative, derogatory and abusive memes by editing parts of the chief minister's speeches to defame her. The complainant claimed that such acts can incite violence and disrupt peace," an officer of Kolkata Police said. The complaint also names at least seven other content creators, and police said that a search is on to arrest them. A case has been filed under relevant sections of the IPC, they said. In June, Kolkata Police arrested

Mamata asks mayor to rename Kolkata road, park after Pranab Mukherjee

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday directed Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim to rename a road and a park in the city after former president Pranab Mukherjee. Speaking at the inauguration of Chetla Agrani's Durga Puja pandal in south Kolkata, Banerjee remembered Mukherjee. "I will ask Bobby (Firhad Hakim) to name a road, even if small, and a small park in remembrance of Pranab Mukherjee," she said. She also remembered singers Sandhya Mukhopadhyay, Dwijen Mukhopadhyay and Nirmala Mishra, and asked the mayor to rename roads and parks after them. Banerjee said the Durga Puja festival has twin feathers on its crown this year -- Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO and Best Destination for Culture by a global organisation of travel writers. She said that these recognitions will show the path of peace and togetherness to the world. Banerjee said that it would also be the responsibility of community puja organisers to assist the police in crowd management. "As I had told Sujit (Bose),

21 TMC MLAs in touch with me, claims BJP leader Mithun Chakraborty

Actor and BJP leader Mithun Chakraborty claimed that nearly 21 Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLAs are in touch with him

Bengal govt's Rs 100-cr Jagannath Temple in Digha to be complete by 2023

The Rs 100-crore Jagannath Temple being built by the West Bengal government at the beach town of Digha in Purba Medinipur district will be completed by December 2023, an official said on Saturday. The temple, coming up on a 20-acre plot near the beach, is being built by West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (WBHIDCO), resembling the centuries-old Jagannath Temple in Odisha's Puri. The 65-metre-high temple will have idols of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra, WBHIDCO chief engineer Suman Neogi said. The Digha Shankarpur Development Authority (DSDA) will be running the affairs of the temple when the construction is complete, he said. "We are hopeful about completing the project by the end of next year. Around 200 labourers are working round the clock to realise the dream of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to have a Jagannath Temple, resembling the one in Puri, in Digha," Neogi said. The temple will be of red sandstone, which is being brought fr

Calcutta HC rejects dearness allowance review petition filed by Bengal govt

A division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Thursday rejected a review petition of West Bengal government to reconsider an earlier judgement of the bench to clear dearness allowance (DA) arrears within three months. The bench comprising justices Harish Tandon and Rabindranath Samanta rejected the state government's petition to review its May 20 order. Upholding an order of the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT), the Calcutta High Court had in May directed the West Bengal government to release dearness DA arrears since July 2009, when the Revision of Pay and Allowances (ROPA) came into effect in the state, within three months. The state government had filed a writ petition in the high court challenging the SAT order of July 2019 that directed it to pay DA at par with the Centre, and to clear the amount in three instalments. The division bench on Thursday also fixed November 9 as the date of hearing of a contempt petition filed by the associations of state government employees, .

Mamata's decision to postpone north Bengal visit attracts opposition jibes

During her two-day visit, the CM was supposed to attend three programmes at Uttarkanya which is considered as the mini-secretariat in north Bengal, Bagdogra and Bagha Jatin Park at Siliguri

CBI arrests North Bengal University VC in 2016 teachers' recruitment scam

The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested North Bengal University Vice-Chancellor Subires Bhattacharyya in connection with an assistant teachers' recruitment scam in West Bengal in 2016

West Bengal govt nod to Adani's Tajpur greenfield port development

APSEZ had emerged as the H1 bidder earlier this year, but the state government had not declared it

Partha Chatterjee-Arpita Mukherjee assets worth Rs 103 cr: ED charge sheet

ED officials said that the assets include cash amounting to Rs 49.80 crore and gold worth Rs 5.08 crore seized from the two residences of Mukherjee in Kolkata in July.

ED attaches over Rs 46 crore assets of ex-minister Partha Chatterjee, aide

The Enforcement Directorate on Monday said it has attached assets worth Rs 46.22 crore "beneficially owned" by former minister Partha Chatterjee and his alleged associate Arpita Mukherjee as part of a money laundering probe in the West Bengal teachers' recruitment 'scam'. The attached properties include 40 immovable assets such as a farmhouse, flats and "prime land" located in Kolkata worth a total Rs 40.33 crore, apart from Rs 7.89 crore worth deposits kept in 35 bank accounts, the federal agency said in a statement. "The attached properties are found to be beneficially owned by Partha Chatterjee and Arpita Mukherjee," it said. According to the agency, several of the attached properties were registered in the name of shell companies and persons acting as proxies for Chatterjee. The former minister in the TMC-led government in West Bengal and his "close associate" were arrested by the ED in July. The agency had seized Rs 49.80 crore cash, gold and other jewellery worth more than R

CBI might quiz CA of TMC's Anubrata Mondal again in cattle smuggling case

The Central Bureau of Investigation might again question Manish Kothari, the chartered account of TMC strongman Anubrata Mondal, in connection with the multi-crore cattle smuggling scam in West Bengal

Violent mob at BJP's rally can be taught a lesson in 10 minutes: TMC leader

TMC leader Madan Mitra has courted controversy by claiming that those involved in violence and attacks on police during BJP's recent march to the West Bengal secretariat can be "taught a lesson in just 10 minutes". Mitra, however, added that the Trinamool Congress is not in favour of such an action in retaliation to BJP's "disruptive policies". The former state minister's comments come close on the heels of TMC general secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee's remark that if I was there, I would have shot the violent protesters in the head. Mitra, speaking at a public meeting in Kamarhati constituency on Sunday, said, "If there is an instruction from the party, it won't take more than 10 minutes to thrash those who were involved in hooliganism and vandalism (during BJP's Nabanna Abhijan' on September 14). We can retaliate with double the force than the attackers. The maverick MLA also said TMC has emphasised it wants development not violence. It speaks the language of love and compassio

Bill to help SC/ST appeal against caste certificates passed in West Bengal

The West Bengal Assembly on Friday passed a bill which seeks to provide the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities of the state with opportunities to appeal against cancellation, refusal and revocation of caste certificates. The West Bengal Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Identification) (Amendment) Bill, 2022, was tabled by the Backward Classes Welfare Minister, Bulu Chik Baraik. The bill will enable the people of the SC and ST communities to appeal against refusal to issue a caste certificate. There was no provision of appeal against cancellation, impoundment or revocation of the caste certificate. Now we have decided to provide this provision, the minister said. The matter will be dealt with by district magistrates or additional district magistrates in the districts and by the commissioner, Presidency Division, in Kolkata. Baraik also said that every appeal has to be disposed of within three months from the date of application. No such appeal shall be

Recruitment scam: Ex-Bengal education board chief appears before CBI court

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday produced Kalyanmoy Ganguly, a former president of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE), before a special court of the agency in connection with the Group-C recruitment scam in government schools, officials said. Ganguly was called for questioning at the agency's Kolkata office on Thursday and arrested after he was found non-cooperative. While entering the court premises during the day, he did not speak to reporters. The agency had booked five people, including Ganguly, on May 20 in connection with the case. It is alleged that the accused extended undue advantage to undeserving and unlisted candidates to the posts of Group-C staff in various schools across West Bengal in a criminal conspiracy. The former WBBSE president was arrested around two months after former education minister Partha Chatterjee was apprehended by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for his alleged involvement in the scam. In August, the CBI arre

CBI arrests ex-secondary education board chief in school jobs scam

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probing the teacher recruitment scam on Thursday arrested Kalyanmoy Ganguly, former president of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, for his alleged involvement in the case. CBI summoned Ganguly to its office and, after several hours of questioning, arrested him. He was removed from the post days after his name surfaced in the case.

Bengal will be No. 1 in creation of jobs in 4-5 years, says Mamata

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said that the state will be number one in creation of jobs in the next four to five years which is the aim of the government now. Banerjee, who was speaking at an event in Kharagpur, said that the government's job is to "match make" job seekers and industry with employment generation as its target. "Employment generation is my target at the moment. My aim is to make Bengal number one in job creation in the next four to five years," she said. Distributing certificates and offer letters to those who have successfully completed the 'Utkarsh Bangla' skill development programme, Banerjee said the state has been adjudged number one in skill development. "The number of polytechnics and ITIs have proliferated in Bengal and the government has created a platform for the match making," she said. Banerjee said that while there has been a 45 per cent decrease in employment in the country, the figure for West Bengal has risen by 40 per .

BJP to start 'Jail Bharo Andolan' in West Bengal after Durga Puja

West Bengal BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar on Wednesday said that the party will start 'Jail Bharo Andolan' after Durga Puja against the government.

Bengal Law Minister Moloy Ghatak skips ED summons in coal smuggling case

West Bengal Law Minister Moloy Ghatak skipped appearing before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning in a case of alleged coal pilferage from Eastern Coalfields Ltd mines in Asansol