Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday attacked Congress, accusing it of trying to help Communist Party of India-Marxist in the coming civic polls in West Bengal and virtually compared its United Progressive Alliance partner to collaborators of Pakistani army during Bangladesh liberation war.
The Jindal group has not given any commitment to the West Bengal government on giving equity or employment to people who provide land for a 10-million tonne steel plant it is setting up at Salboni
A devastating fire at a multi-storeyed building in Kolkata that claimed nine lives turned into the epicentre of a political slugfest on Tuesday, with the Trinamool Congress government and the Bharatiya Janata Party pointing accusatory fingers at the Railways and the state administration respectively, even as the bereaved families grieved at the loss of their near ones.
At least 66 people were killed and over two hundred people injured when a severe nor'wester with a windspeed of 125 km per hour ripped through North Dinajpur district in West Bengal and four neighbouring districts of Bihar.
Outgoing World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz, in a statement on May 28, strongly defended his time in office and said he was forced to quit as emotions had got out of control over his girl friend's promotion.
A fresh gunbattle broke out between the Maoists and the joint forces in Salboni area on Saturday, while the police remained tightlipped over reports that top leader Kishenji was injured in Thursday's encounter at Hatiloth forest in West Midnapore district.
The Regional Meteorological Centre said fishermen in coastal areas were asked not to venture into the sea.
The inter-state anti-Naxal operation, along the Jharkhand-West Bengal border, has led to the unearthing of administrative and military units of the Naxals.The operation, which started on Tuesday evening, is a result of several months of planning, and is being lead by over 4,000 central forces including the Special Action Force of the Central Reserve Police Force, besides local police teams of the two states.
In a prize catch, the West Bengal police on Tuesday night arrested top Maoist leader Venkateswar Reddy, the suspected mastermind of the attack that killed 24 Eastern Frontier Rifles personnel in Silda in West Midnapore district. Additional Director General of Police of the Criminal Investigation Department Raj Kanojia said Reddy, alias Telugu Dipak, was arrested from Sarshuna on the southern fringes of the city.
West Bengal minister Madan Mitra on Friday claimed that if he had the power he would have removed the state election commissioner and alleged that it was conspiring with opposition parties in the panchayat polls.
Terming the recent Maoist strike on a paramilitary camp in West Bengal as a 'cowardly' act, President Pratibha Patil on Monday made it clear that such 'senseless violence' would strengthen the government's resolve to tackle it with 'added vigour.'
One person was killed and around 40 houses were ransacked during a clash between workers of the Trinamool Congress and the Communist Party of India-Marxist at Hatishala village under Chapra police station in Nadia district on Tuesday.
All shops and markets remained closed in both east and west Midnapur district.
The West Bengal government said on Friday that the police and intelligence agencies had got information about Maoist leader Kishenji hiding in the state and that he was likely to be arrested soon.
In a record of its kind, students from a boarding school with no access to mobile phones and TV sets have made it to the Top 10.
The West Bengal government on Thursday decided to take over two television channels of scam-tainted Saradha Group, which are facing closure.
The police deployed in the area used microphones to warn villagers not to approach the area where fencing work was on.
The body of slain Maoist leader Kishenji would be sent to his home at Peddapalli in Andhra Pradesh by the West Bengal government after conducting a postmortem in Kolkata.
The owner of a rural chit fund firm, active in two south Bengal districts, died on Thursday in Hooghly district taking the ponzi scheme fiasco deaths in the state to 14.
The chitfund scam in West Bengal claimed its twelfth victim on Monday with an agent of a ponzy scheme found hanging in his home at Basirhat in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district.
The West Bengal Congress on Thursday said the Centre should caution the state over repeated violence there, but did not favour immediate imposition of President's Rule as demanded by Trinamool Congress.
Signalling stepped up operations in junglemahal after withdrawal of the offer of ceasefire by the Maoists and the killing of two Trinamool Congressmen, the West Bengal government has recalled senior Indian Police Service officer Manoj Verma as superintendent of police, counter insurgency force.
As competition hots up in the direct-to-home (DTH) space, operators, including Dish TV and Sun Direct, are now turning to foreign language channels to build their content bouquet in a bid to take themselves ahead of other players.
Irked over a 14-minute delay in the departure of a passenger train, travellers on Friday detained Howrah-bound Rajdhani Express for about two hours, 15 km from Kolkata.
The Centre has assured the West Bengal government that it would not withdraw the 1,700 personnel of central security forces from the three Maoist-hit districts of West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia, even though assembly elections in adjoining Jharkhand is round the corner.
Defending his decision to release 26 women "agitators" in exchange for a police officer abducted by Maoists, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee described it as an exception and warned the extremists that they would be taught a lesson in future.
Referring to the violence in Malda, he refuted Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's statement that it was a result of tussle between Border Security Force officials and locals.
Also directed the company not make any financial transaction till further orders.
Road and rail traffic in Kolkata and surrounding areas was thrown out of gear on Tuesday following an hour-long blockade by the Trinamool Congress to protest the 'forcible' acquisition of agricultural land for the Tata Motors car project.
Pakistan has decided to approach the World Bank to request the appointment of a neutral expert to resolve a dispute with India over the Kishanganga hydroelectric project if bilateral efforts fail to settle the matter, according to a media report.
West Bengal government-appointed interlocutors on asserted that the dialogue process with Maoists to restore peace in the 'junglemahal' area is on even as the offensive against the rebels continued.
According to reports, the Trinamool Congress workers are staging rallies, holding protests in Kolkata and other parts of the state to protest against the SFI attack on their leaders.
World Bank, which had earlier stopped funding three health projects in India alleging corruption, announced on Wednesday three programmes would get financial assistance of $672 million from it.
Patrolling along the Bangladesh border was stepped up following the arrests.
Global agencies have shown interest in Bihar's developmental projects. They met Bihar CM Nitish Kumar to chart out an investment plan.
The anti-Maoist joint operations by Central forces and police at restive Lalgarh in West Midnapore district were not a total success as no major arrest could be made or killings stopped, the West Bengal Government said on Thursday.
The West Bengal government is mulling amendment of labour laws to prevent strikes on "trivial issues", while also checking unfair labour practices.
Other than India, China and Mexico, the top 10 recipients of remittances include the Philippines, Poland, Nigeria, Romania, Egypt, Bangladesh and Vietnam. Remittance flow to South and East Asia has continued to post strong growth, largely on the fact that the gulf countries, a major destination for Asian migrants, have not significantly reduced hiring migrants.
There has not been any exodus from Bangladesh to West Bengal following violence in the neighbouring country over a top Jamaat-e-Islami leader being sentenced to death for crimes against humanity during the 1971 liberation war.
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