A gas cylinder blast in a house at Dholahat in West Bengal's Pathar Pratima has claimed eight lives, including four children. The explosion, which occurred on Monday night, triggered a massive fire, intensified by the presence of stacked firecrackers inside the house. The incident has sparked a political controversy, with the BJP demanding a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe and the TMC maintaining that the police are already investigating and that the state government has a "zero-tolerance " policy towards such incidents. The blast has also raised concerns about the safety of illegal firecracker manufacturing units, which have been linked to several recent accidents in the state.
Senior Indian Police Service officer Manoj Kumar Verma was appointed the new Kolkata Police commissioner, replacing Vineet Goyal, on Tuesday, a day after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee held a meeting with agitating junior doctors and agreed to their demands in a bid to resolve the more than a month-long impasse over the RG Kar hospital incident.
While the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress alleged that the killings were a fallout of the TMC's infighting, the ruling party pointed fingers at the grand old party of India.
After the death of Mallojula Koteswara Rao alias Kishenji in an encounter in Bengal, many experts believed that the Naxal movement was headed downhill after the demise of their most powerful leader. But the recent daring strike on Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh has jolted security experts out of their reverie and proved that the ultra left-wing movement has found a new leader.
A shrewd fighter and a marksman, top Maoist leader Kishenji spent three decades of his life in hiding, waging a relentless, bloody war against the state to emerge as the biggest security headache for the West Bengal government and the Centre.
A team of Indian Space Research Organisation scientists presented the first pictures of the Red Planet sent by Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday.
Pictures from the glitzy wedding reception.
Togadia said he would go on an indefinite fast from Tuesday to push the Hindutva cause.
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