Sporadic violence was reported on Thursday in the fifth and last phase of panchayat elections in West Bengal covering four districts of north Bengal with 30 per cent voter turnout reported till noon.
The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 543 and the number of cases climbed to 17,265 in the country on Monday, according to the Union health ministry.
According to the Minority Morcha's state president, Ali Hossain, around 4.5 lakh people from the community have already joined the saffron party.
A day after the death of Territorial Army's first woman jawan in Jalpaiguri, the police on Wednesday managed to tide over the protests of adivasi organisations and send her body for post mortem.
The engine of Howrah-New Jalpaiguri Shatabdi Express detached near Jaugram station in Burdwan district on Howrah-Burdwan section of Eastern Railway on Friday.
The Territorial Army's first woman jawan, Shanti Tigga, was found hanging inside a hospital cabin in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal, four days after allegedly being kidnapped and left tied blindfold.
The killing of Naik Rajib Thapa, 34, raised the death toll in the cross-border firing in the past week to four -- three soldiers and one civilian.
Asian Games heptathlon gold medal changed her life as she became a star but Swapna Barman, on Friday, said she sometimes get nervous and scared of the people's high expectations.
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"I appeal to everyone to maintain peace. I hope to be back on the field in the next few days," Banerjee said.
Death of four persons in an Assam-bound special train coming from Bangalore in Jalpaiguri area of North Bengal in West Bengal has raised the alarm and Assam government has sounded the alert apprehending fresh violence once the Eid celebration is over in the state.
Fifty-seven new trains were proposed by the railways minister Mamata Banerjee as she presented he Railway Budget for 2009-10 in Parliament on Friday.
The discount will be given on the base fare and charges like GST, reservation fee, superfast tariff and others will be levied separately.
Principal Secretary of the state health department Bibek Kumar, in his letter to the secretary of the Union ministry of health and family welfare on Friday, described the list as "an erroneous assessment" and said Bengal, keeping in view the parameters set by the Centre, has earmarked four "red" zones -- Kolkata, Howrah, North 24 Parganas and East Midnapore.
A brief overview of North Bengal districts' constituencies
The Bharatiya Janata Party, however, termed the autopsy report of the 17-year-old girl, who was the sister of a BJP activist, a 'cover-up' and reiterated its demand for an impartial probe into the incident. The ruling Trinamool Congress accused the BJP of trying to 'make an issue out of a non-issue'.
The home ministry said the West Bengal government is not cooperating with the central teams visiting the state to assess the ground situation and are specifically restraining them from interacting with health workers and touring the affected areas.
However, some feel that a better market for their crops would have been a bonus to their high yield.
Consultant, critic, fiction writer, columnist and theatre director and novelist Vijay Nair recounts his seven-day trekking experience to Sikkim.
Addressing an election rally on Friday, Mannan said he would take care of the people for the entire year, but would want them to vote for him and his party.
The army was being deployed in violence-hit areas of Darjeeling district after 2 persons were killed on Tuesday when the police opened fire to stop Gorkha Janmukti Morcha supporters from taking out a march in adjacent Jalpaiguri district defying prohibitory orders, sparking arson by GJM workers who torched government vehicles and offices.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Friday stressed for a change of regime in West Bengal, saying that the Left Front Government had failed to utilise Central funds given to the state for its development.
Firmly opposing the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said her party would not allow any move to divide West Bengal.
Over 26 people have lost their lives country in the aftermath of the 7.9 magnitude earthquake in Nepal.
Gorkha Janamukti Morcha chief Bimal Gurung has warned that any attempt to arrest him in connection with the ongoing agitation in Darjeeling hills will unleash a spate of violence there and the West Bengal government will be responsible for the consequences.
Normal life was hit for the third day in Darjeeling Hills on Friday in response to the indefinite bandh called by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha to protest police firing at Sipchu in Jalpaiguri district that left two persons dead.
Five elephants were killed on the spot late on Wednesday night while two others succumbed to their injuries in the morning, divisional forest officer (wildlife) Sunita Ghatak said. A herd of elephants was crossing the railway tracks while going from Moraghat forest to Diana forest on Wednesday night, when two baby elephants got trapped on the tracks, she said. When other elephants came to the rescue of the baby elephants, a goods train hit the herd
23 trains have been partially cancelled and five short terminated till September 26 as protesters blocked rail tracks at various places, including Amritsar, Ferozepur, Sangrur, Barnala, Mansa and Nabha.
"Nothing short of Gorkhaland is now acceptable for the morcha. No discussion on interim set-up anymore," Gurung told media persons after the GJM meeting at Kumani, on the border of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts.
The epicenter of the quake was Sonitpur and the quake occurred at 7.51 am at a depth of 17 kilometres, it said.
The WWF had earlier asked for halting movement of night trains in the New Jalpaiguri-Alipurduar section passing through wildlife sanctuaries and National Parks and restricting their speed.
Two persons were killed by the Army when they accidentally entered the practice shooting zone of the jawans at Gajaldoba in Jalpaiguri district on Friday, the police said.
The state government had adequate land for these projects, the CM said.
'To be good at the heptathlon takes at least seven years; to compete internationally and win medals takes 10 years.' 'Swapna became Asia's best heptathlete in just five years!' 'Nobody would have believed it. but she did it.'
To begin with, four Jan Ahar outlets are going to be operational at Howrah, Bangalore, Chennai and Secunderabad stations this month. Seven more will be launched at different stations, including Patna, New Jalpaiguri, Lucknow and Mysore next month.
Urging the people to make sure that their names are in the voters' list, Banerjee accused "local leaders" of the BJP of spreading canards about the possibility of implementing the NRC in the state.
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The onset of monsoons in Jalpaiguri in West Bengal raised hopes for the farmers waiting to sow their crops. The region received almost 300 mm of rainfall in the past two days.
The Nowera Nuddy tea estate of Amalgamated Plantations Pvt Ltd (APPL), a close to 50 per cent subsidiary of Tata Tea, accounts for a little more than 1 per cent of the company's tea production in North India, but is threatening its image as an 'ethical' group. The IUF, a global trade union, is running an international campaign against the lockout of the estate.
