Agitating junior doctors in West Bengal continued their fast-unto-death for the third consecutive day on Monday, demanding justice for the rape and murder of a woman medic of the RG Kar hospital and workplace safety even as the state government remained silent to address their issues.
Agitating junior doctors demanding justice for the deceased woman medic of the Kar Medical College and Hospital and workplace safety continued their hunger strike until death on Sunday in the central part of the Kolkata's Dharmatala area.
The junior doctors called off their 'total cease work' at state-run medical colleges and hospitals around 8.30 pm on Friday but threatened to launch a hunger strike till death if their demands were not met by the West Bengal government within 24 hours.
The rallies were organised from R G Kar hospital, Sagore Dutta Hospital, SSKM Hospital, Calcutta Medical College, and Jadavpur in south Kolkata.
A team of senior Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers, who reached Kolkata on Wednesday morning, began its investigation into the alleged rape and murder of a woman doctor at a state-run hospital in West Bengal, officials said.
The Supreme Court on Thursday reiterated its appeal to the doctors protesting over the rape and killing of the medic to resume work and directed that no coercive action would be taken against them.
Impressed by his mental agility till an advanced age, the premier National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences wants to study the late Jyoti Basu's brain to find out whether there was any special reason for his alertness.
The West Bengal government has suspended 12 doctors of Midnapore Medical College and Hospital for negligence following the death of a woman and four others falling ill after childbirth. The incident is alleged to have been caused by the administration of 'expired' intravenous fluid. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh and a government job to the family of the deceased woman.
During the investigation, it was found that he had a history of physically abusing his wives, he said.
The draft of the anti-rape bill, scheduled to be tabled by the Mamata Banerjee government in the West Bengal assembly on Tuesday, proposes capital punishment for persons convicted of rape if their actions result in the victim's death or cause her to become vegetative.
Howrah resident Helaram Mallik travelled 235km to Balasore to recover his son alive from a makeshift morgue where he was kept with the bodies of those killed in the triple train accident.
Mamata set 6 conditions for the state government to withdraw their four-day-long stir.
The doctors, who are protesting against the assault on two of their colleagues at NRS Medical College and Hospital, had on Friday sought unconditional apology from Banerjee and set six conditions for the state government in order to withdraw their stir.
Tension was palpable in the area, and a large police contingent was deployed to prevent any further flare-up.
Mamata alleged that the BJP and the CPI-M were provoking doctors and giving communal colour to the issue.
Notwithstanding Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's warning of strict action if work is not resumed, the junior doctors carried on with their agitation.
Banerjee had on Saturday invited the agitators for closed-door talks, but the offer was turned down by them.
The move came after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee directed Kolkata Police commissioner Anuj Sharma to deploy a nodal police officer in every hospital.
'If people are not cooperating and do not follow policies laid down by the government or follow scientific infection control management, then all will be lost.'
'This proved that whatever was growing in the mosquito's gut was a parasite -- it was almost certainly the malarial parasite.'
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.