Adani News

Tag: Bengal

  • BJP unit’s office in Bengal’s Siliguri burnt to ashes

    BJP unit’s office in Bengal’s Siliguri burnt to ashes

    A BJP mandal office in West Bengal’s Darjeeling district was gutted in a fire around 1.45am on Friday.

    The blaze in the party’s office in Siliguri’s Dabgram area was doused by local BJP supporters of the area with the help of a fire tender around 3am, police said.

    BJP’s Siliguri MLA Shankar Ghosh alleged that the party had been receiving threats from various quarters to remove the unit office. He added that a thorough probe was needed to find the exact cause.

    An FIR was filed by the owner of the house where the party had set up the office near Surya Nagar field in ward 23.

    Darjeeling zilla Trinamool Congress general secretary Babul Pal said the BJP just needed a reason to do politics.

  • Violence continues in Bengal over upcoming rural polls, TMC candidate beaten to death

    Violence continues in Bengal over upcoming rural polls, TMC candidate beaten to death

    KOLKATA: As blood continued soaking the soil of Bengal before the upcoming panchayat elections with the murder of a candidate in Malda on Saturday, the state election commission moved the Supreme Court challenging the order of the Calcutta High Court which directed the state poll panel to deploy central force personnel across the state for the upcoming rural polls following reports of large-scale violence.

    A total of six persons were killed since June 9, after the state election commission announced that panchayat polls in Bengal will be held in one phase on July 8. Governor C.V. Ananda Bose visited trouble-torn Bhangar, South 24 Parganas, on Friday, where three persons were gunned down on the last day of filing nominations on Thursday, and said, “Victory depends on the count of votes, not dead bodies.”

    “We moved the Apex court challenging the order of a division bench of the high court. Our petition was accepted and a hearing will be held on Monday. Though the high court on Thursday directed the state poll panel to deploy central forces within 48 hours of the order, it will not be effective immediately as we have moved the Supreme Court,” said a TMC leader.

    Violence continued in the state over the upcoming rural polls. Mustafa Sheikh of Sujapur in Malda, a Trinamool Congress candidate of a local panchayat, was beaten brutally when he was returning home from the local centre where nominations were being scrutinised.

    “Mustafa was taken to a local healthcare centre with severe injuries on his head but the doctors declared him dead on arrival,” said a police officer.

    Though the TMC alleged Mustafa, in his late 40s, was murdered by Congress supporters, the police said they are probing the incident to ascertain whether it was fall out of an intra-party feud.

    “Many workers of the ruling party are unhappy after being denied tickets in the rural polls which resulted in rivalry among the TMC supporters. We are exploring all possible aspects to find out whether Mustafa had developed any rivalry because of his candidature in the rural polls,” said a police officer.

    The Congress denied any involvement of its party supporters in the incident.

    In the upcoming panchayat elections, more than 17,000 candidates submitted their nominations as independent contestants which irked the ruling party TMC. In a core committee meeting of the party at Mamata Banerjee’s Kalighat residence on Saturday afternoon, she reportedly asked to deliver a message for the disgruntled who are contesting as independent candidates defying the party’s dictate.

    “We are making it clear that if our party workers, who submitted their nominations as independent candidate, do not withdraw their candidature, the door for the party will remain shut for them forever,” said TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee.

    Referring to the murder of the TMC candidate in Malda, Banerjee said the party wants a thorough probe into the incident.

  • School Job Scam: Bengal Education Secretary Appears Before CBI

    School Job Scam: Bengal Education Secretary Appears Before CBI

    West Bengal Education Secretary Manish Jain on Thursday appeared before the CBI sleuths at the agency’s Kolkata office in connection with its investigation into the alleged irregularities in recruitment at state government-aided schools.

    Jain was questioned about the documents related to the recruitment, which have his signatures, a senior officer of the central agency said.”He was cross-checked with the versions given by arrested former state education minister Partha Chatterjee as well as other accused persons. His statements have been recorded,” the CBI officer said.

    Thursday was Jain’s second appearance before the CBI in the same case.

    The bureaucrat was summoned and questioned for more than five hours during his last appearance at the CBI office last year.

  • Low pressure area over Bay of Bengal, rain likely in Odisha!

    Low pressure area over Bay of Bengal, rain likely in Odisha!

    Bhubaneswar: The well-marked low-pressure area over the northeast Bay of Bengal persisted over the same region at 0230 hours IST of today, the 10th June, 2023.

    It is worth mentioning that due to this area, Odisha is likely to experience rain and thundershowers soon.

    A Wind warning has been issued by the IMD:

    Squally weather with wind speed reaching 40-50 kmph gusting to 60 kmph is likely to prevail

    The sea conditions in the Bay of Bengal:

    Sea condition are likely to be rough over northeast Bay of Bengal on 10th June said the latest bulletin of the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

    Warning to the fishermen venturing into the sea:

    The fishermen have been advised by the MeT Department not to venture into northeast Bay of Bengal on 10th June, 2023.

    The systems are under continuous surveillance by the IMD and the next update will be issued today that is on the 10th June, 2023.


    over northeast Bay of Bengal on 10th June.

  • Bengal Man Travels 200 Km In Bus With Son’s Body After Failing To Pay High Ambulance Fare

    Bengal Man Travels 200 Km In Bus With Son’s Body After Failing To Pay High Ambulance Fare

    A man on Sunday claimed that he travelled in a public bus with the body of his five-month-old child in a bag for 200 kilometres in the northern part of West Bengal, as he did not have Rs 8,000 as demanded by an ambulance driver for taking him home in Kaliaganj from Siliguri.

    Leader of Opposition in West Bengal assembly Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP questioned the efficacy of the Trinamool Congress government’s ‘Swasthya Sathi’ health insurance scheme, while the TMC accused the saffron camp of indulging in politics over the unfortunate death of a child.

    Ashim Debsharma, the father, said “My five-month-old son died last night after treatment at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital in Siliguri for six days, during which I spent Rs 16,000.” “I did not have money to pay Rs 8,000 demanded by an ambulance driver there for transporting my child to Kaliaganj,” he told reporters.

    Debsharma claimed that he put the body in a bag and travelled by bus to Kaliaganj in Uttar Dinajpur district, around 200 kms from Siliguri in Darjeeling district, without letting anyone know, fearing that he would be deboarded if the co-passengers of staff became aware of it.

    He claimed that an ambulance driver under the 102 scheme told him that the facility was free for patients, but not for transporting corpses.

    Tweeting the matter with videos of the man speaking to the media, Adhikari wrote: “Let’s not get into technicalities, but is this what Swasthya Sathi has achieved? This is unfortunately the true portrayal of the ‘Egiye Bangla’ (advanced Bengal) model.” TMC Rajya Sabha MP Santanu Sen accused the BJP of trying to “play dirty politics” with the unfortunate death of a child.

    A similar incident had happened in January this year in Jalpaiguri district, also in the northern part of the state.

    Unable to pay the high amount demanded by ambulance operators, a man, carrying his mother’s body on his shoulder, started walking from a government hospital towards home, around 40 kilometres away. However, after some time, a social service organisation provided him with a vehicle which took them home free of cost.

  • BJP booth president murdered in Bengal’s East Midnapore

    BJP booth president murdered in Bengal’s East Midnapore

    KOLKATA: Tension continued to grip Moyna in East Midnapore on Tuesday after a local BJP booth president was murdered in the area. Leader of Opposition (LoP) in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari alleged that the deceased party booth president Bijoy Krishna Bhunia was picked up by goons close to former Trinamool Congress legislator Sangram Dolui on Monday evening and hacked.

    Dolui, however, rejected the allegations by Adhikari and claimed that the murder was a result of a fight between two groups. Since Tuesday morning, tension mounted in Moyna, as the local BJP supporters protested by blocking roads and burning tyres. Soon the LoP reached the spot.

    “In the recent past, a number of people in this area who were earlier with Trinamool Congress have joined BJP. This has made the ruling party jittery ahead of the forthcoming panchayat elections. So, the ruling party-backed goons are trying to create fresh tension in the area and Bijoy Krishna Bhunia became a victim of it. I promise you to see it through to the end,” Adhikari told the agitating party supporters.

    Later, speaking to the media persons, he said that their demand is a central agency probe in the matter. “Since the murder was conducted by the local Trinamool Congress goons in association with some local police personnel, we have no faith in a probe by state police. Our demand is also that the post-mortem be conducted in any central government-run hospital in the state and not in any state-run hospital.”

    Meanwhile, the victim’s family has already approached the Calcutta High Court regarding the same. In the petition, it has also been alleged that the local police while registering the FIR refused to incorporate the points mentioned by the victim’s family members. BJP has called for a 12-hour strike at Moyna on Wednesday as a protest against the killing.

  • Low pressure likely to form in South Bay of Bengal around May 5, says IMD DG Mrutyunjay Mohapatra

    Low pressure likely to form in South Bay of Bengal around May 5, says IMD DG Mrutyunjay Mohapatra

    New-Delhi: A low pressure area is likely to develop over south Bay of Bengal area around May 5, informed India Meteorological Department (IMD) Director General, Mrutyunjay Mohapatra.

    “As per yesterday’s forecast, a low pressure area is likely to develop over south Bay of Bengal around May 5. It may intensify into a depression. However, only after the low pressure forms, we can say whether it will further intensify into a cyclone or not,” said Mohapatra.

    “A complete picture will emerge only after the low pressure area develops,” informed Mohapatra.

    However, the possible low pressure will have no impact on Odisha.

    “There will be no impact on Odisha. It may affect Andaman Islands. If the cyclone forms, it may affect south or southeast Bay of Bengal,” Dr Mohapatra said today.

    In Odisha, there will be severe heatwave in the month of May. The condition may last upto 4-5 days in the month. The temperature will soar in coastal and interior Odisha districts,” he said.

  • 11 Detained For Violence In Bengal’s Kaliaganj; Prohibitory Orders Continue Amid Heavy Security

    11 Detained For Violence In Bengal’s Kaliaganj; Prohibitory Orders Continue Amid Heavy Security

    A total of 11 people have been detained for their alleged involvement in violence at Kaliaganj in Uttar Dinajpur district over the death of a teenage girl, even as roads in the town wore a deserted look on Monday amid heavy deployment of security forces, police said. Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC continued in some parts of Kaliaganj, a senior police officer said. Raids were conducted in and around Kaliaganj throughout Tuesday and 11 people were detained in connection with incidents of arson, he said.

    Violating the prohibitory orders, miscreants on Tuesday set fire to Kaliaganj police station and torched several vehicles parked near it, as a mark of protest, claiming that the 17-year-old girl had been raped and murdered. Her body was found in a canal here last week. The preliminary post-mortem examination report, however, indicated she had not been raped.

    “There is heavy deployment of security forces to keep a check on law and order. At the moment, the situation is under control,” the officer told PTI over phone. The prohibitory orders were clamped in parts of Kaliaganj on April 23, ahead of the visit of a National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) team. Meanwhile, state secretariat sources said Governor C V Ananda Bose on Wednesday morning spoke to Chief Secretary H K Dwivedi and Home Secretary B P Gopalika and sought a report on Tuesday’s incident.

  • Suspected associate of Al Qaeda arrested in Bengal

    Suspected associate of Al Qaeda arrested in Bengal

    Kolkata (IANS) | The Special Task Force of the West Bengal Police has arrested a suspected associate of international terrorist group Al Qaeda. It was announced on Tuesday.

    While the state police did not disclose details, sources said the suspect, identified as Naseemuddin Shaikh, was arrested when he visited his relative’s house in Dadpur in Hooghly district.

    Sources said that Sheikh, originally a resident of Khargram in Murshidabad district, was absconding for a long time. But the STF officials came to know from their sources that he had recently returned to the state and was staying with a relative in Dadpur.

    Sources said that TSF personnel arrested him from there after a sudden raid. Several incriminating documents have been seized from his procession and STF sleuths are currently probing them.

    He will be produced in the lower district court on Wednesday.

    Sources said in November last year, the STF had arrested Maniruddin Khan, another Al Qaeda associate, from Mathurapur in South 24 Parganas district. A pen-drive was recovered from him, from which STF got vital information including Sheikh’s name.

    –IANS

  • Bengal reported over Rs 100 crore in mid-day meals: Center

    Bengal reported over Rs 100 crore in mid-day meals: Center

    Serving of around 16 crore midday meals worth over ₹ 100 crore were over-reported by the local administration in West Bengal from April to September last year, a panel appointed by the Ministry of Education has found.

    The Ministry of Education (MoE) had in January constituted the ‘joint review mission’ (JRM) to review the implementation of the centrally sponsored scheme PM POSHAN in West Bengal following complaints of irregularities. The panel noted “serious discrepancies in information submitted regarding number of meals served at various levels”.

    “According to the first and second Quarterly Progress Reports (QPRs) submitted to the Government of India by the state government, about 140.25 crore meals had been served under PM Poshan scheme during April to September, 2022. However, as per the QPRs submitted by the districts to the state, the number of meals served was about 124.22 crore. “Thus, there is an over-reporting of over 16 crore meals which is a serious issue. The corresponding material cost works out to be ₹ 100 crore,” the report said.

    The panel also questioned the diversion of funds meant for the scheme to pay compensation to fire victims, misallocation of food grains, cooking of rice, dal and vegetables up to 70 per cent less than “prescribed quantities”, and usage of expired packets of condiments.

    The joint review mission, which comprised nutrition experts and officers from the Centre and the state government, reviewed the implementation of the scheme, formerly known as the midday meal scheme, in the state and district and school levels for a specified period of time on defined parameters. “The state used to claim that more than 95 per cent children availed midday meals on an average basis. However, in all the schools visited, the number of children availing these meals was between 60 to 85 per cent during the period,” it said.

    The team also reviewed the fund flow from state to schools or implementing agencies, coverage of the scheme, management structure at state, district, block levels, delivery mechanism of food grains from state to schools, construction of kitchen-cum-stores, procurement or replacement of kitchen devices, among others.

    On April 3, Bengal’s Education Minister Bratya Basu tweeted that the JRM which visited schools “across the length and breadth” of the state in February had submitted its report without even informing the project director from the state. “They have submitted their report without even informing the project director (PD), CMDM, who was the state representative on the team, let alone getting his signature on the report… this is another example of a blatant violation of the Centre-state relations that the central government does regularly,” he had tweeted.