Adani News

Tag: Kolkata

  • 34 arrested in case of explosion in firecracker warehouse

    34 arrested in case of explosion in firecracker warehouse

    Kolkata (IANS) | Thirty-four people have been arrested in connection with the explosion at an illegal firecracker warehouse in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district that killed three people. They will be produced in a lower court in Kolkata on Monday. The blast occurred in Maheshtala area on Sunday night, six days after a blast at an illegal firecracker factory at Egra in East Midnapore district on May 16.

    Locals have alleged that the illegal godown in Maheshtala was on the ground floor of a private residence and was running for a long time.

    He also claimed that despite knowing about the existence of the godown, no action was taken by the local administration.

    Meanwhile, a political slugfest has erupted over the blast, with Leader of the Opposition Shubhendu Adhikari describing West Bengal’s current situation with Ukraine.

    Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the official said in a tweet. I think if one calculates and compares the number of explosions on Ukrainian soil so far, the number would be less than the number of explosions in West Bengal during this period.

    Meanwhile, Shantanu Sen of the Trinamool Congress said that the blast incident was certainly unfortunate, but the attempt by opposition parties to do politics over dead bodies is not acceptable.

    –IANS

  • Death toll in firecracker factory blast rises to 12

    Death toll in firecracker factory blast rises to 12

    Kolkata (IANS) | The death toll in the explosion at an illegal firecracker factory in West Bengal’s East Midnapore district rose to 12 on Saturday as two more people died. The two people who died since late Friday night have been identified as Ravindra Maity and Pinky Maity.

    Nine deaths were reported on the day of the blast (Tuesday). The main accused and owner of the illegal factory, Krishnapada Bagh, who was among the injured, died at a private hospital in Odisha’s Cuttack on Friday morning, taking the death toll to 10.

    Now, the death toll in the tragedy has risen to 12 with the death of two more injured and those under treatment at Government SSKM Medical College and Hospital.

    Officials of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the state police are currently probing the matter. Krishanpad Bagh’s son Prithvijit Bagh and nephew Vishwajit Bagh have already been taken into custody by the authorities.

    A division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed the CID to continue with the probe but also asked to include sections of the Explosives Act in the FIR.

    In the initial FIR lodged by the police, only sections under the Indian Penal Code and the West Bengal Fire Service Act were included, for which the state police was severely criticized.

    Preliminary police investigation indicated that the explosion was probably caused by raw material stored for making firecrackers. Opposition parties have claimed that the effect of the explosion proved that crude bombs were being made there, not firecrackers.

    –IANS

  • Akasa Air Commences Operations From Kolkata

    Akasa Air Commences Operations From Kolkata

    Akasa Air on Thursday started daily flight services from Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) Airport in Kolkata, the airline said in a statement. The eastern metropolis is the airline’s 17th destination and the second in West Bengal after Bagdogra.

    The airline started non-stop flights between Kolkata and Guwahati and Bengaluru. In the inaugural flight, 174 passengers travelled from Kolkata to Assam’s largest city and 167 arrived in Kolkata from the Karnataka capital.

    On a daily basis, the airline’s flight will arrive in Kolkata from Bengaluru at 5.15 pm and leave for Guwahati at 5.55 pm. The return flight from Guwahati will reach Kolkata at 9.10 pm and leave for Bengaluru at 9.50 pm, an AAI statement said.

  • Cracker factory blast: Bengal minister and Trinamool MP face public anger

    Cracker factory blast: Bengal minister and Trinamool MP face public anger

    Kolkata (IANS) | A minister from West Bengal and a Rajya Sabha MP from Trinamool Congress reached Egra in Midnapore district on Wednesday. Here the minister and MP had to face heavy opposition from the local people. According to reports, there was an explosion at a firecracker factory located in Egra on Tuesday, in which nine people were killed. There is anger among the people due to this blast.

    Dr Manas Bhunia, Minister in-charge of the Environment Department of West Bengal, and Dola Sen, Rajya Sabha MP of Trinamool Congress, were heckled by a group of people as soon as they reached the spot. The locals held the state’s ruling party responsible for the tragedy and raised slogans.

    Some protesters also raised slogans calling Trinamool Congress leaders thieves. However, both Sen and Bhunia remained calm instead of getting into controversy. He tried to pacify the locals by saying that the state administration would take full responsibility of compensation for the families of the deceased as well as the injured.

    However, his efforts to convince did not work much and the sloganeering intensified. Some protesters also questioned the minister and the MP as to why the police administration was reluctant to take action against the illegal firecracker factory.

    A protester asked the minister why have you come here now? What’s the point of coming here now? Finally in the face of massive protests, Bhunia and Sen left the spot. However, before leaving the village, he met the relatives of one of the victims.

    Bhunia said that we had reached the spot following an instruction from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. But some unruly elements tried to create chaos on our tour and tried to instigate us. However, let’s not get caught up in that. That’s why we’re going back. Met the family members of one of the victims.

    Meanwhile, the factory owner Krishnapad Bagh alias Bhanu, a former Trinamool Congress panchayat member, is still absconding. Police is trying to trace his mobile and trace his location.

    –IANS

  • Calcutta High Court will take strict action on irregularities in the recruitment of food inspectors

    Calcutta High Court will take strict action on irregularities in the recruitment of food inspectors

    Kolkata (IANS) | The Calcutta High Court on Saturday warned the Food and Supplies Department of West Bengal of strict action if irregularities were found in the recruitment of food inspectors. A division bench of Justice Harish Tandon and Justice Prasenjit Biswas, while hearing a petition filed in this matter, said that the court will not tolerate any irregularities in the recruitment of food inspectors.

    The bench went to the extent of saying that if there was any malpractice in the recruitment process, the court would quash all the faulty appointments.

    The next hearing in the matter has been fixed for June 5.

    The written examination was conducted in 2018 to fill the vacant posts of Food Inspectors in the State Food and Supplies Department. In 2021, 100 selected candidates were given appointments.

    After the recruitments were made, some candidates who appeared for the examination approached the High Court with a petition alleging lack of transparency in the recruitment process.

    He alleged that several rules were violated in the recruitment process. Initially only 30 people were made parties in the case. On Saturday, the state government’s counsel requested the bench to implead all those involved in the case as parties in the case.

    Accepting the proposal, the bench directed the state government to complete the process before the next date of hearing.

    –IANS

  • Calcutta High Court orders NIA probe in another case

    Calcutta High Court orders NIA probe in another case

    Kolkata (IANS) | The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday ordered a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into the alleged murder of two former school students in Uttar Dinajpur district in September 2018. Justice Rajasekhar Mantha on September 20, 2018 ordered an inquiry into the murder of Tapas Barman and Rahesh Sarkar, former students of Dariwit High School in Uttar Dinajpur district, in the school premises.

    While passing the order, Justice Mantha noted that there were complaints of use of bombs, explosives and firearms in the incidents.

    He said that since the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the state police was not making sufficient progress in its investigation, the investigation was being handed over to the NIA.

    It may be noted that in September 2018, a group of Dariwit High School students, their parents and alumni protested against the school authorities’ decision to appoint teachers for Urdu and Sanskrit subjects, ignoring teacher vacancies for subjects such as science and maths. started protesting.

    Those opposed to the movement clashed with the protesters. Two former students of the school were killed in the firing that took place during this period.

    Justice Mantha on Wednesday said that though the postmortem report shows that Sarkar and Barman were killed by bullets, CID officials are unable to identify the nature of firearms.

    Justice Mantha also expressed displeasure over the role of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission (WBHRC), which was tasked with conducting a parallel probe in the case. He said that the conclusion of the Commission was based only on the inputs given by the District Magistrate and the District Superintendent of Police, which proved that the Commission remained inactive in the matter. He also directed the state government to give compensation to the next of kin of the deceased.

    –IANS

  • Opposition Parties Need To Sit Together And Strategise: Nitish-Mamata Meet In Kolkata

    Opposition Parties Need To Sit Together And Strategise: Nitish-Mamata Meet In Kolkata

    Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar met West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata on Monday as they sought to cobble up a coalition of opposition parties, with the two regional satraps stressing on the need to “prepare together” for the next Lok Sabha polls in 2024.

    The meeting between the two leaders, which was also attended by Bihar’s deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav, was described as “positive”.

    “It was a very positive discussion… Opposition parties need to sit together and strategise,” said Kumar after the meeting in state secretariat Nabanna.

    Banerjee came out of the meeting, stating, “We have to give the message that we are all together.” While details of the discussion were scanty with the leaders preferring to speak on the broader consensus, sources said the two sides used the meeting to figure out how they would proceed in sewing together a coalition that would be workable ahead of the elections.

    “Nothing is being done for India’s development, those ruling are only interested in their own advertisement,” claimed Kumar.

    Opposition leaders have been critical of rising unemployment, the falling value of the rupee and rising prices as well as the spending on government advertisements.

  • Fierce fire in Kolkata’s Salt Lake, dozens of shanties gutted

    Fierce fire in Kolkata’s Salt Lake, dozens of shanties gutted

    Kolkata (IANS) | A massive fire broke out in Kolkata’s Salt Lake area on Sunday evening, gutting around 60 shanties, rendering hundreds homeless. Officials said there was no report of any casualty. The fire in Falguni market could not be controlled till around 10 pm and 10 fire tenders were deployed to douse the fire. Panic spread in the area after gas cylinders kept in the slums exploded one after the other.

    State Fire Service Minister Sujit Basu and Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation Mayor Krishna Chakraborty immediately rushed to the spot. Efforts were being made to prevent the fire from spreading to the adjacent housing complexes of slums, which have already been engulfed by the devastating fire.

    Locals said that the slum in Falguni Bazar area where the fire broke out had more than 100 shanties and most of them were completely gutted in the fire. However, no casualty was reported in this case till the filing of the report. A fire official present at the spot said, “Those who were inside the shanties at the time of the fire have been evacuated safely.”

    He said the narrow passage to the shanties created a major problem for fire brigade personnel to reach near the source of the fire.

    Chakraborty said that the homeless people whose huts were completely gutted by the fire are currently given shelter in the local community hall. Food has also been provided to them, he said. Alternative arrangements and compensation will be arranged for them.

    –IANS

  • 2 laborers died after falling in oil tanker

    2 laborers died after falling in oil tanker

    Kolkata (IANS) | In a tragic incident on Saturday, two laborers were killed when an oil tanker fell into them in Kolkata’s Tiljala area. Police sources said that both the laborers climbed onto the oil tanker, possibly to measure the oil level, but during this time both fell inside the tanker and died.

    Eyewitnesses told the police that initially one of the two laborers fell inside the oil tanker, while the other one also died while trying to save the other.

    The deceased workers have been identified as Logan Nathan and Kartik Haldar. Haldar was a resident of Sonarpur in South 24 Parganas district, while Nathan was from Karnataka. Both were contractual employees.

    Police recovered both the bodies from inside the tanker.

    –IANS

  • Public opinion important in debate on same-sex marriage: Mamata

    Public opinion important in debate on same-sex marriage: Mamata

    Kolkata (IANS) | West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday that it is important to understand the pulse of the people (opinion) in the debate on same-sex marriage in the country, an important aspect and the deciding factor. In response to a media person’s question, she said- Generally, I love those people who love others. But since a case related to this issue is pending in the Supreme Court, it would not be right for me to comment on the issue at this point of time. The matter is sensitive. All I can say is that we have to understand the pulse of the people in this matter.

    Banerjee also said that any detailed comment on the matter can be given only after the court’s order. His observation comes on the same day the apex court observed that there is no data to show same-sex marriage as an elitist concept highlighted by the central government. The top court asserted that the state cannot discriminate against an individual on the basis of a characteristic over which the individual has no control, and that something that is innate cannot have a class bias.

    So far, all opposition parties, except the CPI-M, have maintained a cautious stance on the issue of same-sex marriage. Only senior CPI-M leader Brinda Karat has openly stated that her party supports the right of homosexuals to have their relationship status legally recognized.

    Although not in so many words, the Chief Minister has made minor comments on this issue on Wednesday.

    –IANS