The ruling Trinamool Congress claimed that the strike call exposed the BJP's game plan to foment disturbances in the state exploiting people's pain over the alleged rape and murder of a woman doctor.
Holi was celebrated with pomp and splendor across India on Friday, with people soaking in the festivities by smearing 'gulaal' on each other and exchanging greetings and sweets. Homes and streets wore a colourful look as the revellers splashed colours and feasted on traditional delicacies. Public transport did not ply in the morning in most major cities while metro services started functioning from noon. As Holi coincided with the second Friday prayers during the holy Islamic month of Ramzan, security -- including increased patrolling and picketing -- was beefed up in several states. In Delhi, more than 25,000 security personnel were deployed. Police closely monitored about 300 sensitive areas with CCTV cameras and drones.
Three of the junior doctors who were observing 'fast unto death' in Kolkata and Siliguri city in the northern part of the state have so far been hospitalised after their condition deteriorated.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Sougata Roy has demanded the removal of Kalyan Banerjee as the party's chief whip in the Lok Sabha after a spat with fellow MP Mahua Moitra. Roy accused Banerjee of "uncivilised" behaviour on multiple occasions and cited incidents of Banerjee breaking a bottle and throwing it at the chairman of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) meeting and making inappropriate remarks about Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. The spat between Moitra and Banerjee reportedly occurred on April 4 when a TMC delegation met the Election Commission over duplicate voter ID numbers. Banerjee was tasked with collecting signatures from TMC MPs on a memorandum to be submitted to the Election Commission, and Moitra alleged that she was not included in the signatories, leading to a heated exchange. Roy, who was present at the time, said he saw Moitra crying and complaining about Banerjee's behaviour. Roy believes that Banerjee's actions warrant his removal as chief whip and left the decision to Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee. The incident has also been highlighted in leaked WhatsApp messages, where Banerjee engaged in heated exchanges with another TMC MP, Kirti Azad, leading to further accusations of uncivilised behaviour.
His threat was heard in a video clip that has gone viral. However, the authenticity of the video could not independently verify.
A group of around 130 Dalit families in West Bengal's Purba Bardhaman district have been facing discrimination for centuries, being denied access to a local temple. The families, belonging to the traditional community of cobblers and weavers, have been ostracized and face economic hardship due to this caste-based practice. Despite recent attempts by the administration to resolve the issue, the situation remains tense and the families are left with few options.
A woman in West Bengal's Howrah district allegedly convinced her husband to sell his kidney for Rs 10 lakh to pay for their daughter's education. After the surgery, she fled with another man, taking the entire amount of money with her.
Notice for ticket holders ahead of Durand Cup semis Kolkata
In a joint statement, they noted that while the incident highlights the prevailing "apathy, misgovernance and lack of accountability" in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, the state government's "apparent inclination" to shield perpetrators rather than protect victims is a "grave miscarriage of justice".
The decision followed a petition by former deputy superintendent of the medical establishment, Akhtar Ali, who sought an investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) into alleged financial misconduct during the tenure of the college's former principal, Sandip Ghosh.
'Mamata needs to address the anger and resentment among various sections of the Hindu community because low-scale communal violence has always paid richer electoral dividends for the BJP.'
The Kolkata connection of Lalit Jha sparked a political debate in the state, with West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar accusing TMC MLA Tapas Roy of being in "convenience" with Jha.
Ending the logjam persisting for 42 days in the wake of the rape and murder of a young doctor at RG Kar hospital, the agitating medics withdrew the 'cease work' after holding a march to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) office in Salt Lake in Kolkata from the state health department's headquarters, where they had been demonstrating for over a week.
A man who was detained in Durg in Chhattisgarh as a suspect in the January 16 Saif Ali Khan attack case said on Sunday that his life is in complete disarray following police action, leaving him without a job, a snub from his prospective bride and family facing ignominy.
Stating that the police had "reliable inputs" that Anwar "may have been murdered", Akhilesh Chaturvedi, IG, CID, said that the police were yet to recover the victim's body.
The number of cyberfraud cases has skyrocketed from 2,677 in 1999-2000 to 29,082 in FY24 -- more than a 10-fold increase. The RBI pegs digital payment frauds at Rs 1,457 crore in FY24, up more than five times in a year. It's not just the number of frauds. What's alarming is the growing sophistication of the fraudsters, exposing the vulnerabilities within the financial system, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
'When we get justice we will stop the protest.'
Agitating junior doctors in West Bengal resumed their indefinite 'total cease work' on Tuesday to press for various demands, including ensuring their safety and security at all medical establishments.
Dinesh Karthik may have spent his career in M S Dhoni's shadow, but his contributions to Indian cricket, especially in the IPL, deserve a legacy all his own, asserts Sudhir Bisht.
"I feel ashamed to talk to such a prime minister who has blood on his hands," she said.
Heavy rains packed with gusty winds lashed Odisha and parts of southern West Bengal as the landfall process of the severe cyclonic storm Dana was complete on Friday morning with no loss of life.
Ghosh was asked to specify his role after getting the news of the death of the doctor, who he had contacted and why he made the parents wait for nearly three hours, he said.
West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose on Friday filed a defamation case against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the Calcutta high court, a day after she said that women complained to her saying that they were afraid to visit the Raj Bhavan because of the activities there, a source said.
Kolkata Knight Riders' home IPL match against Rajasthan Royals on April 17 is set to be rescheduled after the local police expressed its inability to provide adequate security due to Ram Navami celebrations on that day, the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) has informed the BCCI.
R G Kar Medical College's former principal Sandip Ghosh was found to be 'deceptive' while answering important questions on the rape and murder of a trainee woman postgraduate doctor during his polygraph test and layered voice analysis, officials said.
Tripura's Transport Minister Sushanta Chowdhury alleged that a bus on the way to Kolkata from Agartala was attacked in Bangladesh.
A group of people set fire to an ISKCON temple in Dhaka district in Bangladesh in the early hours of Saturday.
Around 200 people belonging to the Sikh community staged a demonstration in front of the Bharatiya Janata Party office in Kolkata on Wednesday, expressing solidarity with an Indian Police Service officer who had alleged that West Bengal party leader Suvendu Adhikari labeled him as a 'Khalistani'.
'We have been fighting to treat political prisoners differently.' 'Except for Hyderabad and Kolkata, the concept of keeping political prisoners separate doesn't exist in India.'
Roads around the 19th century iconic Howrah Station resembled a battleground on Tuesday, with brickbats aimed at police personnel flying thick and fast, and drenched protesters hit by water cannons limping to the safety of nearby alleyways and shops.
The top court will hear the probe agency's applications on Tuesday.
Although no fresh arrests were reported in the case, the Central Bureau of Investigation continued with its questioning of top officials of the RG Kar Hospital.
CAB requested ICC recce team about concerns raised by local security agencies with regards to World Cup match between Pakistan and England on November 12 coinciding with Kali Puja.
Following a meeting with the medics, she claimed that talks were "fruitful" and nearly "99 percent of their demands have been accepted", Banerjee said.
Amateur Ham Radio operators have picked up suspicious late-night radio signals in coded Bengali, Urdu and Arabic along the Indo-Bangladesh border in South Bengal over the last two months, raising concerns about possible extremist activities. The signals, which have been detected between 1 AM and 3 AM, are unusual in their pattern and language usage, according to Ham radio operators, who have reported the matter to authorities. The development comes amidst ongoing unrest in Bangladesh and growing anti-India rhetoric in the neighbouring country. Security agencies are investigating the matter, and the Border Security Force (BSF) has acknowledged the seriousness of the situation.
The Kolkata Police has booked actor Paresh Rawal under different sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on a complaint filed by Communist Party of India-Marxist state secretary Md Salim, who alleged that he delivered 'hate speech' against the Bengali community during an election rally of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat.
In the backdrop of a woman employee of Raj Bhavan levelling molestation charges against him, West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose on Thursday showed CCTV footage of the premises of May 2 to common people.
A man arrested for allegedly sharing a bogus bomb alert on an IndiGo flight from Nagpur to Kolkata last month has turned out to be an Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer.
Tuhin Mondal, the content creator, was arrested from his house in Bapujinagar in Taherpur police station area.
Four men were arrested in Visakhapatnam for allegedly gang-raping a law student and blackmailing her with some intimate videos, police said.
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