Page 7 - West Bengal

Stones pelted at Vande Bharat in Bengal Malda; BJP, TMC engage in slugfest

The train was not stopped mid-way after the incident took place at 5.10 pm on Monday and it halted at its designated stoppage at Malda Town railway station, the official said

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National anthem case: Prosecutor says no sanction needed to against Mamata

The prosecution claimed on Tuesday that no sanction was needed to pursue a criminal case against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for allegedly disrespecting the national anthem as the incident had taken place during a 'political' visit and not an official one. A special court for cases against MPs and MLAs here was hearing a review petition filed by Banerjee against a summons issued against her by a local magistrate's court in connection with the case. Mumbai BJP functionary Vivekanand Gupta filed a complaint before a magistrate's court last year alleging that Banerjee did not stand up when the national anthem was being played at an event during her visit to Mumbai in December 2021. A First Information Report be registered against her under the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, he demanded. The Trinamool Congress leader filed a review petition before the special court against the summons issued by the magistrate, arguing that the mandatory sanction to prosecu

Vande Bharat pelted with stones in Bengal's Malda; BJP demands NIA probe

Just a few days after its inaugural run, the Howrah-New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express was pelted with stones in West Bengal's Malda district, prompting the BJP to demand an NIA investigation into the incident. No injuries, however, were reported in the incident that took place near Kumarganj railway station, around 50 km from Malda town, on Monday evening, a Railway official said. The glass door of coach number C13 of 22303 Vande Bharat Express was damaged in the incident, he said. Kumarganj falls under the jurisdiction of the Katihar division of the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR). The train was not stopped mid-way after the incident took place at 5.10 pm on Monday and it halted at its designated stoppage at Malda Town railway station, the official said. Malda Town railway station Government Railway Police (GRP) IC Prashant Rai said that Railway Protection Force (RPF) is investigating the matter. The train was flagged-off virtually by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Howrah

Mamata launches party outreach programme, lashes out at opponents

West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC Supremo Mamata Banerjee on Monday lashed out at both her opponents in the state BJP and the CPI(M) led Left Front - claiming the ideological opposites, 'Ram-Baam' (BJP-Left), had allied covertly. Launching her party's new outreach programme titled Didir Suraksha Kavach (Didi's Protective Shield)', Banerjee said, Even if one weed attacks our paddy, the whole crop could be ruined, while cautioning her workers to root out corruption ahead of Panchayat polls to be held in the next few months. Around 3.5 lakh Trinamool Congress workers will reach out to the around 10 crore people of the state to check if they are benefitted from government projects, she said. Banerjee said a proper vigilance system at the party level will be put in place to weed out rotten elements. Her party functionaries have been facing a series of corruption charges and two prominent leaders have been arrested in the year gone by. "A proper vigilance system will be put in place to

'Bharat Jodo Yatra' of West Bengal Congress resumes from Kolkata

The West Bengal Congress' 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' reached Kolkata on Monday with the party's state unit president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury starting a march from Taratala in the southwest part of the city. The yatra, which has been renamed as Sagar Se Pahar Tak' in the state, was flagged off by Chowdhury from Ganga Sagar Island in South 24 Parganas district on December 28. Joined by several senior leaders of the party in West Bengal, the long march will pass through important junctions and streets of the city, and may go to Netaji Bhavan at Elgin Road where senior leaders are likely to garland Subhas Chandra Bose's portrait. The yatra is also likely to reach the party's headquarters Bidhan Bhavan' in central Kolkata and will also visit Swami Vivekananda's residence on Simla Street in north Kolkata, where party leaders are scheduled to pay tribute to the monk. The march will then move north to the Shyambazar area, a party source said. The yatra is scheduled to cover around 800 km in diffe

PM Modi virtually flags off Howrah-New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat express

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday virtually flagged off the Vande Bharat express connecting Howrah and New Jalpaiguri in the presence of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Also present on the occasion were Governor C V Ananda Bose and Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. The Vande Bharat Express will connect Howrah and New Jalpaiguri, the gateway to the northeast. The blue-and-white train, which covers a distance of 564 km in 7.45 hours, will save three hours of travel time compared to other trains on the route, officials said. It will have three stoppages at Barsoi, Malda and Bolpur. The Vande Bharat express with modern passenger amenities is likely to be preferred both by regular passengers, tea industry executives and tourists travelling to the Himalayas in North Bengal and Sikkim. The state-of-the-art train has 16 coaches, including two for drivers.

Sloganeering angers Mamata, refuses to sit on dais at Railway function

Sloganeering at Howrah Station on Friday snowballed into a major controversy as a visibly annoyed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee refused to get up on the dais from where the Vande Bharat express to New Jalpaiguri was flagged off. Banerjee seemed upset by the loud sloganeering of 'Jai Shri Ram' by BJP workers present at the railway station. Attempts by Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Governor C V Ananda Bose to pacify her did not bear fruit, as the chief minister chose to sit on a chair below the dais along with the audience. Banerjee greeted the PM who appeared through a video conferencing link with a short speech from her seat and condoled the death of his mother Hiraben earlier in the day by stating, Your mother is our mother too. The Vande Bharat Express connecting Howrah and New Jalpaiguri, the gateway to the northeast, as well as several development projects, was virtually inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday. However, the chants stirred up

PM Modi virtually chairs National Ganga Council meeting in Kolkata

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday chaired the second meeting of the National Ganga Council (NGC) meeting in Kolkata via video conferencing

PM Modi to launch railway projects worth over Rs 5,800 cr in Bengal

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate and dedicated to the nation railway projects worth over Rs 5,800 crore in West Bengal through video-conferencing on Friday. Modi, who lost his mother this morning, was scheduled to be here in person to be part of the event to launch the connectivity and infrastructure projects in the state. The projects include the inauguration of the Joka-Taratala stretch of the Joka-Esplanade Metro Project (Purple Line) and the flagging off of the Howrah-New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express. The Joka-Taratala 6.5-km stretch having six stations has been constructed at a cost of more than Rs 2,475 crore. Passengers of southern parts of Kolkata such as Sarsuna, Dakghar, Muchipara and South 24 Parganas will be immensely benefited by inauguration of this project.

PM Modi to visit Bengal tomorrow, to dedicate several projects to nation

He will also flag off Vande Bharat Express connecting Howrah to New Jalpaiguri and will also inaugurate Joka-Taratala stretch of Purple Line of Kolkata Metro

Bengal to write to Centre for more Covid vaccines, testing kits: Official

The West Bengal government on Wednesday decided to write to the Centre to request for more COVID vaccines and testing kits, a senior official said. Along with five lakh doses of nasal vaccines, the state government has decided to request the Union government to send one lakh doses of Covaxin and 15 lakh doses of Covishield, he said. Keeping in mind the warnings of a probable COVID surge, the state government issued guidelines for hospitals and directed them to set up COVID wards in medical establishments where such facilities are unavailable. The decisions were taken during a virtual meeting chaired by Chief secretary H K Dwivedi with the district magistrates and senior officials of the state health department. The official said that hospitals were asked to keep beds ready keeping in mind critical and very critical patients. Meanwhile, nine fresh cases were reported in the state on Wednesday, taking the tally to 21,18,606, a health bulletin said. The toll remained unchanged at 21

Covid scare: 3,718 dedicated beds in Bengal's state-run hospitals

Amid the fresh Covid-19 scare, the West Bengal government on Wednesday decided to immediately keep 3,718 beds reserved and dedicated for Covid-19 patients in the different state-run hospitals

WB's 1st Vande Bharat to cut travel time between Howrah, NJP by 3 hours

The new Vande Bharat Express from Howrah to New Jalpaiguri in West Bengal, to be flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, will save three hours of travel time compared to other trains on the route, officials said on Wednesday. Currently, there are 14 trains that cover the 564-km distance at an average travel time of around 10:45 hours. The new train will cover the distance in 7:45 hours, the officials said, considerably bringing down the run time between Kolkata and Siliguri, the gateway to the northeast. The train will have three stoppages -- Barsoi, Malda and Bolpur. The blue-and-white train has already arrived at Eastern Railway's Liluah loco shed. The semi-high speed train with modern passenger amenities is likely to attract tourists travelling to the hills of north Bengal and the Dooars as well as Sikkim. The train will be particularly advantageous for those who do not wish to spend a night at Siliguri before travelling on to their destinations. The state-of-th

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury flags off Congress Yatra from Ganga Sagar in Bengal

The Bengal leg of the Congress' 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' was flagged off by state party chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury from Ganga Sagar Island in South 24 Parganas district on Wednesday morning. The yatra which has been renamed as 'Sagar Se Pahar Tak' in the state is scheduled to move through around 800 km in different districts of the state and end at Kurseong in North Bengal on January 23, the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee chief had criticised the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) for deciding to not join the Bharat Jodo Yatra, despite being invited by Rahul Gandhi. Chowdhury also said the Bengal leg of the yatra is open to all anti-BJP forces. "(Senior Congress leader) Rahul Gandhi had invited the Trinamool Congress to be part of the Bharat Jogo Yatra. An invitation letter was sent to their floor leader in Parliament, Sudip Bandyopadhyay. But, they chose not to join. "However, we from the state Congress have not invited the TMC

Jailed TMC leader Anubrata's aide joins BJP due to 'lack of opportunity'

A close aide of jailed Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mondal on Tuesday joined the BJP, citing an "increasingly difficult working situation" and "lack of opportunity" in the West Bengal's ruling party to serve the people. TMC's Birbhum district vice president Biplab Ojha switched over to the saffron camp at a meeting attended by leader of opposition in the state assembly, Suvendu Adhikari. Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said Ojha's move will not have any impact on the party's performance in panchayat polls due next year. In an apparent reference to Trinamool Congress' Anubrata Mondal, Adhikari said, "A big leader, who used to be a fish seller, is poised to go to Tihar jail. His associate is already there." Notably, Sehegal Hossain, the former bodyguard of Mondal, was arrested in connection with a cattle smuggling case and is now lodged in Tihar jail. The Central Bureau of Investigation, in August, arrested Mondal in connection with its probe into the case. "Big .

National Clean Ganga Mission approves sewerage projects worth Rs 2,700 cr

The Executive Committee of National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) approved projects worth around Rs 2,700 cr for developing sewerage infrastructure in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal

Trinamool palming off welfare scheme benefits, cheating people: Dilip Ghosh

The coming year is politically crucial for West Bengal as the three-tier panchayat elections, perceived to be the curtain-raiser for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, are scheduled to be held in 2023.

PM Modi to flag off West Bengal's first Vande Bharat Express on Dec 30

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off West Bengal's first Vande Bharat Express on the busy Howrah-New Jalpaiguri route on December 30, a senior Eastern Railway official said on Sunday. The superfast train with modern passenger amenities will take around 7.5 hours on its run in both directions, Eastern Railway spokesperson Ekalabya Chakraborty said. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the Vande Bharat Express service from Howrah to New Jalpaiguri on December 30," he told PTI. The first Vande Bharat Express service in the state will be run six days a week, he added. It will bring down travel time between Kolkata and Siliguri, the gateway to the Northeast considerably. The train will leave the Howrah station at 6 am to reach the New Jalpaiguri station at 1.30 pm, and after a one-hour stopover, it will leave the north Bengal station at 2.30 pm and reach Howrah at 10 pm, Chakraborty said. The blue and white 16-coach new rake has already arrived at the Liluah loco shed of

Picnics, church visits, food make Christmas merry in West Bengal

Picnics, visits to churches by the faithful and long queues outside various monuments marked the Christmas celebrations in West Bengal on a fun-filled Sunday for the young and the old. Those who chose to enjoy a leisurely holiday stayed at home with a sumptuous spread for lunch while at many places, local clubs and cultural organisations arranged for a feast for underprivileged children and the elderly. While city dwellers made a beeline for popular picnic spots in the rural surroundings in groups of various sizes, another flow of people from the districts swarmed Kolkata for a visit to the Alipore Zoo, Victoria Memorial Hall, Eco Park and Nicco Park, among others. As the day progressed and evening descended, the dazzling Park Street, the beautifully decorated cynosure of many people for whom a visit to the place in the posh Kolkata locality is a must for food and drinks and merrymaking, came to life in its full glory. There were queues of the young and old at St Paul's Cathedral i