The severe cyclonic storm, which brought in its wake heavy rain coupled with gale wind till early Sunday, uprooted hundreds of trees and snapped cables in Kolkata and in the coastal districts of North and South 24 Parganas and East Midnapore, bring life to a near-halt.
Taking exception to Health Minister Harsh Vardhan not mentioning the death of healthcare workers due to Covid-19 in his statement in Parliament, the Indian Medical Association has published a list of 382 doctors who died due to the viral disease and demanded that they be treated as "martyrs".
What these elections prove beyond any doubt (if ever there was one) that Modi's hold over public mind and Shah's mastery of election management are unparalleled. It doesn't seem likely that they will be matched any time soon in the Indian political scene, reaffirms Shreekant Sambrani.
Calling the political condition prevailing in West Bengal "horrible and frightening", Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar alleged on Tuesday that the people of the state do not have the freedom to exercise their franchise fearlessly.
If the real estate sector is properly managed, it could drive not just finance but demand for a range of products and services, observes T N Ninan.
Government officials working overtime to dismantle the Tata plant and return land to farmers, says Ishita Ayan Dutt.
Among other measures, TMC announced Monday that it had formed coordination committees in all districts comprising senior leaders to look into party members' grievances.
The system moved north-northeastwards at 20 kmph in the last six hours and is over west-central Bay of Bengal, 90 km from Gopalpur, 120 km from Puri and 210 km from Paradip, the weather office said in its 11.30 am bulletin.
'For around five hours the storm, reportedly the strongest one ever recorded in the Bay of Bengal, that mother of many a deathly vortex, shook Kolkata like a toddler playing with a rattling toy,' observes Debashish Chatterjee.
The central government may, however, advise state authorities to continue with strict curbs in COVID-19 containment zones in the worst-affected 30 municipal areas that account for 80 per cent of the positive cases in the country. These 30 municipal areas are from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Odisha.
A government employee has tested positive for Covid-19 in Andaman and Nicobar Islands on Friday, officials said. The 49-year-old man is the first positive case after the administration started pool testing of samples, they said.
Parts of Telangana are currently reeling under a heat wave that has already claimed 21 lives even as the meteorological department officials warned that day temperature would shoot up further.
With relaxations in the COVID-19 lockdown, temples across the country are all set to reopen from Monday in accordance with the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) issued by Union home ministry to prevent coronavirus spread.
Heeding the desperate urges of their coach Tervor James Morgan, East Bengal picked up a win at the right time as they beat Mumbai FC 2-0 in a 16th round match of the I-League in Kalyani's Municipal Stadium, Kolkata on Sunday.
Chakraborty, an ardent trade unionist and a former Rajya Sabha member, was admitted to the hospital after he tested positive for COVID-19 on July 30.
According to the latest data available from the Centre and the states in the night, the total number of Omicron cases in the country was around 1,200.
Having emerged as the face of opposition resistance to the Narendra Modi juggernaut after the TMC's triumph in the assembly elections, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is locked in an unequal battle as she squares off with "lightweight" rivals in her own lair--Bhabanipur.
3 others were seriously injured when miscreants opened fire at them.
What happened in India in the week gone by? Here's the top stories that captured India's attention in the week gone by.
The embattled Left Front has done one more volte face by deciding to regularise hawkers in Kolkata's busiest streets.
The statue at Telephone Maidan at Katwa town in East Burdwan district with its face blackened was found.
The chief minister, speaking at her first major political rally after the Lok Sabha polls, also said the party will launch a statewide protest on July 26, demanding return of black money "siphoned off" by the BJP.
In a conversation with Rediff.com's Indrani Roy veteran civil engineer Subhash Bhattacharya tries to ascertain the causes behind the collapse of the Vivekananda Setu, an under-construction flyover in Kolkata last Thursday.
35 districts have been reporting high active COVID-19 caseload and fatality rate. These 35 districts comprise all 11 districts in Delhi, Kolkata, Howrah, North 24 Parganas and 24 South Parganas in West Bengal; Pune, Nagpur, Thane, Mumbai, Mumbai Suburban, Kolhapur, Sangli, Nashik, Ahmednagar, Raigad, Jalgaon, Solapur, Satara, Palghar, Aurangabad, Dhule and Nanded in Maharashtra; Surat in Gujarat; Pondicherry in Puducherry and East Singhbhum in Jharkhand.
Kerala has recorded 24 cases including two foreign nationals.
With the fresh cases, India's COVID-19 tally rose to 22.68 lakh, while the recoveries have surged to 15,83,489, pushing the recovery rate to 69.80 per cent.
One meal at a time, Vision Rescue's Biju Thampy hopes to turn around the destiny of street kids in Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.
'The TMC has become a private limited company.'
Taking potshots at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the Saradha chit-fund scam and the Burdwan blast, Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah on Sunday appealed to the people here to vote for change and development in the state.
At least 18 people have died and about 1,900 are suffering from dengue across West Bengal, with the worst outbreak being reported from the capital Kolkata.
A world-class finishing from the World Cupper Carlos Hernandes helped Prayag United return to winning form by beating the league-leaders Dempo SC 1-0 in the 14th round of the I-League at the Municipal Stadium in Kalyani, Kolkata on Friday.
Voltas has entered the water treatment business and undertaken a project at Salt Lake City in Kolkata.
Churu in Rajasthan is sizzling with a record temperature of 50 degree Celsius.
'Amit Shah was, briefly, a stockbroker before devoting himself to politics. By instinct or training, he knows the value of keeping blue chips in one's portfolio.'
A recap of events that occurred in India in the past 24 hours.
The 'Smart city' programme is in danger of becoming cosmetic - creating showpieces instead of addressing endemic urban problems.
'You may be an MP or an MLA; when we go to Bengal, we go as cadre.'
Maharashtra continues to be the worst-affected state.
'The EC's role in this is questionable. What is the reason for this delay? Are they waiting for instructions?'
'The situation is especially serious in major hotspot districts or emerging hotspots like Ahmedabad and Surat (Gujarat), Thane (Maharashtra), Hyderabad (Telangana), and Chennai (Tamil Nadu),' the MHA statement said.
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