The politicisation of ethnic sentiments in the state has coincided with the ascent of the BJP and increased activities of far right Hindu outfits, which organised rallies and other events on religious occasions such as Ram Navami a festival not very popular in West Bengal- unlike states in north India.
An encyclopedia to the best Durga Pujo eating.
The desecration of Vidyasagar's statue during Amit Anilchandra Shah's rally, which the TMC projected to be a 'Bhojpuri' and 'Dhokla' invasion on West Bengal's culture, may help her gain some favour with middle-class and erudite Bengalis in the last phase of the polls.
Forum for Durgotsab, an umbrella organisation of 550 community Durga Pujas in Kolkata and neighbouring areas, also published guidelines to ensure that the festivities are held following COVID-safety protocols.
'If the BJP thinks it is going to overnight transform Bengal into Madhya Pradesh, sorry, that's not going to happen because I have faith in our ethos and culture.'
If the Puja as a brand can be marketed more effectively outside Bengal, even overseas, it might do wonders for the economy, says Atanu Biswas.
The MeT department warned of heavy to very heavy rainfall in Gangetic West Bengal till Saturday, ahead of Durga Puja festivities.
Will BJP campaigners start using the term 'Ram Rajya' to refer to the nation under Modi's rule, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
It may be a little early to cheer the recovery in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) space as a deceleration in discretionary demand, after the festival season, may offset fragile rural recovery, analysts have cautioned. "The overall demand environment for staples remains muted, while discretionary demand trends have seen some deceleration after the festival season. "We believe margins in staples have bottomed out, but we expect only a gradual uptick with the ongoing softening in raw material prices.
The estimated size of the Durga Puja economy could be about Rs 2.75 trillion in 2021 had there been no pandemic, points out Atanu Biswas.
Citing multiple surges in coronavirus cases in several countries, the Union Health Ministry has written to 13 states and union territories, including West Bengal, Kerala, Maharashtra and Punjab, expressing concerns over declining weekly testing rates and spiking positivity rates in some districts.
A cracker blast killed one person and injured four others in north Delhi's Naya Bazar area on Tuesday setting off panic among the people in the wake of high alert in the city, even as police ruled out any terror angle in it.
Mayank Mishra reports on how the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal has been extending patronage to the ruling party cadre.
Cooler weather meant that demand for milk products and value-added items like buttermilk and ice-cream did not show the usual rise.
Famous clay modeller Mintu Pal is sculpting the fibreglass idol at his Kumartuli studio draping the 'deity' in the Trinamool Congress supremo's favourite white coloured tant saree and her trademark flip-flop slippers to boot.
Unless controlled and contained, given the untested belief that the north Indian labour support and follow the Hindutva kind of political ideology, there is a potential in terms of ideological clashes with their Dravidian brethren in the local neighbourhoods, and it all escalating into violence, especially during election time, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Every aspect of Navratri is associated with delectable dishes that are relished across the country during these divine nine days -- from lip-smacking savouries to wholesome sweets.
Giving a new poll slogan of 'Khel Zatlo' in Goa, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said an anti-BJP alliance has already taken shape in the coastal state under the banner of her party TMC and now it is for the Congress to decide whether it wants to join the grouping ahead of elections to take on the saffron outfit.
Diwali is a season in India for sweet-making. A treasure of traditional Diwali recipes from all corners of our India.
The ruling Trinamool Congress said it was contemplating to appeal in the Supreme Court to hold the panchayat polls in West Bengal before Ramzan, a day after the apex court rescheduled the dates and directed that it be held in five phases from July 11.
If you consider yourself a passionate India traveller, have a go at this quiz on fallen-off-the-map places to visit in our country.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the 24-hour average concentration of lung-damaging fine particles known as PM2.5 in Delhi-NCR shot up from 243 micrograms per cubic metre at 6 pm on Thursday (Diwali day) to 410 micrograms per cubic metre at 9 am on Friday, around seven times the safe limit of 60 micrograms per cubic metre.
'I'm pitching India for the strengths we offer, including the English language, engineers, doctors, nurses, professionals, innovative talent of startups.'
This was the first time that sweets were exchanged between the two forces after the abrogation of Article 370 as the Pakistani side refused to continue with the custom, they said, adding after the developments of August 2019, the offer of exchanging sweets was made by the BSF but the Pakistani side did not reciprocate.
We knew from the moment the pandemic took hold that this would be a long haul -- at least 12 to 18 months. Nothing should have changed that assessment, says Mihir S Sharma.
Try an alternative to the traditional pudding.
The organisers, however, remained unfazed, insisting it was in line with the 'communal harmony' theme chosen by the committee for this year's puja.
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday hit out at the BJP for opposing Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray's directive to state police to keep a record of migrants coming here from other states, claiming the BJP was raking up the 'outsider' card with an eye on the Uttar Pradesh Assembly and Mumbai civic elections due next year.
The daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been below 30,000 for 19 straight days.
The apex court asked the counsel for the Centre to specify the status of rules which were to be formulated in pursuance of its direction to protect cattle smuggling to Nepal and posted the matter for further hearing after summer vacation from May 10 till July 2.
This crispy, flaky, deep-fried Indian bread is stuffed with green peas.
Rediff.com's Indrani Dey digs up chilling details of the ongoing investigation in the Bardhaman blast case, which exposed the a militant network that had been operating in West Bengal since many years.
'The BJP portrays a make believe world.' 'The Tripura victory is being seen by some as a result of bahubal and money power -- but that would be a very simplistic explanation.' 'Money and muscle power can play a role up to a point, but the BJP's victory is remarkable because it replaced a party that was in power for 25 years.'
'Between now and 2021, Bengal's politics could change irrevocably,' predicts Kanchan Gupta, Distinguished Fellow, Observer Research Foundation.
Here's a recap of events that occurred in India in the past 24 hours.
'Mamata is synonymous with Bengal, its culture, language, traditions.'
Is the worst of the Covid crisis behind India? As cases dip three weeks after Diwali, the answer is a possible yes, say several experts, attributing the downslide to a large section of the population already exposed to the virus during the second wave and a stepped up vaccination campaign.
The elections in the five states, the first major exercise since the UPA coalition government came to power 20 months back, will start on April 3 and end on May 8.
This is your chance to squeeze in a quick trip before the monsoon sets in.
