Page 2 - West Bengal

Mamata is role model for how law and order situation worsens: Anurag Thakur

Hitting out at the West Bengal government over the death of a Bharatiya Janata Party worker in the state, Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Sunday accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of being biased

Ram Navami violence: Security beefed up in Nalanda, police say over 50 held

Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Sunday hit out at the Bihar and West Bengal governments over clashes in the states during the Ram Navami celebrations

Mamata Didi is sleeping...Jungleraj has returned: Thakur on clashes in WB

Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Sunday hit out at the Bihar and West Bengal governments, over the communal clashes in the states during the Ram Navami festivities

Community involvement in tourism sector important for its growth: Shringla

Suggesting that tea plantations in West Bengal have the potential to become tourism hotspots, India's G20 coordinator Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Saturday that community involvement in the tourism process is significant for its growth. Speaking to PTI on the sidelines of the second G20 Tourism Working Group Meeting here, Shringla also said that on the first day of the conference a lot of discussions were held on the states that are vulnerable to climate change such as Uttarakhand. "We had a lot of discussions on the issue of sustainable tourism and involving local communities...," he said. Shringla suggested that tea plantations in the area have the potential of becoming tourism hotspots and community participation in the tourism process is significant for its growth. "The tea industry, I think, provides sustainability because biodiversity is very important for the tea industry. And I think that conservation is important in this part of the country," he added. The 2nd Tourism .

NCPCR chief Priyank Kanoongo alleges assault by police in Kolkata

National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) chairperson Priyank Kanoongo on Friday claimed that he was roughed up by police officers while visiting the residence of a minor girl in Kolkata's Tiljala area, who was killed by a neighbour earlier this week. Police, however, rubbished Kanoongo's allegation and said officers had cooperated with him, and it was the NCPCR chief who "misbehaved" with them. "Bengal police officer Biswak Mukherjee beat me up at Tiljala police station in West Bengal. Policemen were secretly recording our investigation proceedings. They beat me up for protesting against this," Kanoongo tweeted in Hindi. Meanwhile, West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights (WBCPCR) chief Sudeshna Roy claimed that Kanoongo "insulted her and her colleagues", and that she was contemplating lodging a police complaint in this regard. "The NCPCR team went there without informing us. When I reached the spot, he (Kanoongo) started speaking in a very insulting

Section 144 CrPC imposed after unrest in Howrah: Shah talks to WB governor

After fresh unrest was reported in Howrah's Kazipara area which witnessed violence over the Ram Navami procession on Thursday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose over the issue. Bose and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also reviewed the situation on Friday, a Raj Bhavan statement said. The governor also said those who resort to violence under the illusion that they can hoodwink the people will soon realise they are in a fool's paradise. There will be effective and concerted action to book the culprits and bring them before the law. Setting fire to public property, that too on the sacred Ram Navami day, is a highly provocative act and will be viewed seriously, he said. Raj Bhavan will keep its eyes and ears open to ensure protection to the life, property and dignity of the common man, Bose said. During the telephonic conversation with Bose, the union home minister sought to know the prevailing situation in the state, particularly in the ...

BJP hires goons from outside state to orchestrate communal riots: Mamata

"Why did they change the route and take the unauthorised route to particularly target and attack one community?" she added

Panchayat polls: Suvendu Adhikari approaches SC against Calcutta HC order

The HC had refused to interfere in the process started by the West Bengal State Election Commission (WBSEC) for conducting the polls for the three-tier panchayat system

'Mamata's claim of illegally-appointed staff holding DA protest baseless'

Banerjee claimed that those who secured jobs during the previous regime by virtue of recommendations made on pieces of paper by the ruling party leaders were holding agitations over DA

Mamata starts dharna to protest Centre's 'discrimination' against Bengal

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday started her two-day sit-in demonstration in Kolkata to protest the BJP-led Union government's alleged discriminatory attitude against the state. Banerjee, accompanied by senior party leaders Firhad Hakim, Aroop Biswas, Subrata Bakshi and Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, reached the venue in front of Dr B R Ambedkar's statue on Red Road around noon and started her protest against the Centre's alleged stoppage of funds to the state for MGNREGA and other schemes of the housing and road departments. The sit-in demonstration will continue till Thursday evening. "The Centre has stopped releasing funds for MGNREGA and Indira Awas Yojana (Grameen). Besides, it has also stopped scholarships for OBC students," she said on Tuesday, while launching a project to construct 12,000 km of rural roads. She alleged that the Centre has not released over Rs 7,000 crores pending under MGNREGA despite West Bengal topping the list of states in completing the

Bengal CM Banerjee launches flagship road 'Pathashree-Rastashree' project

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee inaugurated the 'Pathashree-Rastashree' project in Bengal's Singur on Tuesday

Mamata Banerjee to launch scheme for development of rural roads in Bengal

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will launch a scheme for development of rural roads at Singur in Hooghly district on Tuesday. Under the 'Pathashree-Rastashree' scheme around 12,000 km of roads will be constructed or reconstructed in 29,475 villages of the state, a senior official of the Panchayat and Rural Development department said. Twenty two districts will benefit from this project as 8,767 roads have been approved under this scheme, he said. "New roads will be built and old ones will be completed within a specific time with the financial assistance of the state government. The CM will launch the scheme today from Singur," minister of state for panchayat, Becharam Manna told PTI. The official said that 1,548 roads will be upgraded under the scheme.

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Darjeeling prepares second Tourism Working Group Meeting of G20 on April 1

Preparations are in full swing in West Bengal's Darjeeling district for the 2nd Tourism Working Group Meeting of G20, which will begin on April 1, officials said on Sunday. At the first meeting held in Gujarat's Kachchh in February, five priorities were identified for the sector -- green tourism, digitalisation, skills, tourism MSMEs and destination management. At the second meeting in Darjeeling, representatives of G20 countries, invitee nations and international organisations will be discussing deeper aspects of the five priorities, they said. The Tourism Ministry will also host a side event on 'adventure tourism as a vehicle for achieving Sustainable Development Goals'. All the Northeastern states will make presentations at the event, they added. A full-day programme has also been organised for the domestic tourism industry, and the states to deliberate on adventure tourism, officials said. The delegates will be staying at a resort in New Chumta Tea Garden in Siliguri, where all

Bengal, Rajasthan among 9 states to withdraw general consent to CBI: Centre

Nine states, including Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and West Bengal, have withdrawn general consent to the CBI to probe cases, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Thursday. According to Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, 1946, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) needs the consent from the respective state government for conducting investigation in its jurisdiction, he informed the Rajya Sabha through a written reply. In terms of the provision of Section 6 of the DSPE Act, 1946, a general consent to the CBI has been granted by state governments for investigation of specified class of offences against specified categories of persons enabling the agency to register and investigate those specified matters, said Singh, the Minister of State for Personnel. Nine states -- Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana and West Bengal -- have withdrawn general consent to the CBI to investigate cases, he said.

Partha names CPI(M), BJP leaders for seeking favours, Oppn dubs it baseless

Senior TMC leader Partha Chatterjee, who is in custody in connection with the alleged illegal recruitment in government and aided schools in West Bengal, Thursday slammed opposition parties for questioning his credentials and claimed they had recommended to him candidates for employment in jobs by the School Service Commission (SSC). Chatterjee also asserted that he had declined their request. The opposition BJP and CPI(M) dubbed his claim as baseless and politically motivated. Chatterjee was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for his alleged involvement in the SSC scam in July last year. He is now in CBI custody in the same case. Those who are lecturing me today should first check their own credentials," he lashed out at the BJP and CPI(M). "Sujan Chakraborty(CPI-M), Suvendu Adhikari and Dilip Ghosh (both BJP) came to me and recommended a few names. But I declined. I told them I could not keep such unethical requests," the former minister claimed while talking to report

MGNREGS dues: Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee may shift protest to Kolkata

The state claims that the Centre owes Rs 7,500 crore, of which labour wages alone amount to Rs 2,744 crore

UK to assist West Bengal in creating workforce for upkeep of EV infra

The UK will assist West Bengal in creating a technical workforce for maintenance of its EV infrastructure, which is poised to grow at a rapid pace as India switches over to electric mobility over the next few years, officials said on Tuesday. As a part of the initiative, the state government is planning a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for the maintenance and manufacturing of electric vehicles (EVs) with assistance of the UK government, they said. British Deputy High Commissioner in Kolkata Peter Cook said skill development in the electric mobility space is an important component contributing to the net-zero' strategy, and will help in the creation of new green jobs and usher in investment in the EV sector. "The UK government is keen to deepen our engagement with West Bengal through the creation of an EV skills roadmap, and wider knowledge exchange with UK experts to help drive forward West Bengal's EV policy. Collaborations like these will help to create the highly-skilled, dynamic ..

CBI files FIR over irregularities in teachers' recruitment in Bengal school

The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered a fresh FIR in connection with alleged irregularities in the appointment of assistant teachers for primary schools in West Bengal in 2020, officials said Sunday. The FIR has been registered against unidentified people on a Calcutta High Court order directing the federal probe agency to investigate the allegations, they said. The case pertains to alleged irregularities in the process of appointing 16,500 primary teachers initiated by the West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE) on November 23, 2020, for Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) passed and trained candidates. The WBBPE conducted interviews and aptitude tests of the candidates and published the first merit list on February 15, 2021. "It is alleged that the West Bengal Board of Primary Education adopted dubious and corrupt means in the appointment of assistant teachers for primary schools in West Bengal and in order to do so and also in order to keep the applicants in ...

WB teachers' scam: ED recovers 350 OMR sheets from real estate promoter

Following the raid and search operations, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), probing the multi-crore recruitment scam for teaching and non-teaching staff in the state-run schools in West Bengal