Earthquake tremors were felt in Kolkata and adjacent districts of West Bengal after a 5.5 magnitude earthquake jolted parts of Bangladesh. People rushed out of buildings in panic, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
The West Bengal government has filed FIRs against five state government employees for alleged lapses in electoral roll revisions, following an Election Commission ultimatum. The action comes after the EC directed the state to initiate criminal cases against the accused for adding fictitious names to voter lists.
The Indian Army's Eastern Command has sought the intervention of West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose in connection with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's recent allegation that a senior army officer was using the command base at Fort William and working on the SIR exercise at the behest of the BJP.
'The police could not save my daughter or bring her justice, but they didn't think twice about beating up women and elderly persons.'
At least 23 people, including children, were killed as relentless rain triggered one of the worst landslides in a decade in Darjeeling hills and adjoining areas on Sunday, sweeping away homes, cutting off roads, isolating villages, and leaving hundreds of stranded tourists amid widespread devastation, officials said.
A year after the RG Kar rape-murder Swarupa Dutt/Rediff look at the city where it happened, Kolkata -- its study in dichotomy, at once the self-proclaimed cultural capital of India as also a petri dish for a peculiar rage that breeds crimes against women.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday pledged to protect the rights of 'eligible candidates' who lost their jobs after a recent Supreme Court verdict, evoking mixed responses from the affected teachers, thousands of whom turned up to hear the leader speak but remained dangling between hope and despair after she finished.
The ruling Trinamool Congress claimed that the strike call exposed the BJP's game plan to foment disturbances in the state exploiting people's pain over the alleged rape and murder of a woman doctor.
Glimpse what our politicians were doing at the beginning of 2025.
Trinamool Congress councillor Dulal Sarkar was shot dead by unidentified miscreants in West Bengal's Malda district on Thursday morning. Sarkar, popularly known as Babla, was shot multiple times from close range by bike-borne assailants at Jhaljhalia More area. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed shock over the killing and blamed the callousness of the Malda SP. Two contract killers have been arrested in connection with the murder.
The state police have called the scheduled rallies, support for which has been mainly garnered over social media platforms, as "illegal" and "unauthorised", and said they have taken necessary precautions to allay apprehensions about potential law and order situations during the march.
Banerjee, who also takes care of the home department, said Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal has offered to resign in the wake of the protests but "we need someone who knows law and order ahead of Durga puja".
"I apologise to the people of Bengal who expected an end to the RG Kar impasse today. They (junior doctors) came to Nabanna but did not sit for the meeting. I request them to go back to work," Banerjee told a press conference.
Police said they began lathicharging and tear gassing after the agitators managed to breach the barricades at some locations and attacked the security personnel.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday expressed her grief and solidarity with the family of a trainee doctor, who was sexually assaulted and murdered at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has accused the Border Security Force (BSF) of allowing infiltrators from Bangladesh into India and claimed it's a deliberate attempt to destabilize the state. Banerjee, who alleges a larger conspiracy by the central government, has also accused some district magistrates and SPs of aiding the BSF in their alleged illegal activities. She plans to send a strongly worded letter to the Centre expressing her concerns and has directed the state police to investigate the matter further.
Heavy rains packed with gusty winds lashed Odisha and parts of southern West Bengal as the landfall process of the severe cyclonic storm Dana was complete on Friday morning with no loss of life.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday urged the junior doctors protesting the rape and murder of their colleague at R G Kar Hospital to end their fast-unto-death stir, stating that most of their demands have been addressed while rejecting their insistence on removing the state health secretary.
Although both sides agreed on the prevailing threat culture, they differed on the underlying premises, forces, and situations that promote it.
The state government and the CM have repeatedly urged the doctors to resume work. Though Thursday's talks failed to take place, protesting doctors maintained that they still desire a meeting, but only in a completely transparent manner, which they believe is only possible through live-streaming.
In a video message, Bose also said he will also socially boycott the chief minister.
West Bengal is home to 43,000 Durga Pujas, and the business around it is a major economic driver.
In a rerun of the 'Reclaim the Night' campaign, hundreds of women took to the streets in Kolkata and other parts of West Bengal on Sunday night, demanding justice for the alleged rape and murder of a doctor in the state-run R G Kar Medical College and Hospital.
The protesting doctors said they would not work in the Outpatient Department but would partially work in emergency and essential services.
The e-mail, detailing the points which were discussed and agreed upon between the two sides and also those which weren't, was sent as per the state's requirement based on which the government is expected to issue directives, the doctors said.
The second round of talks between junior doctors and officials of the West Bengal government failed to break the medics' strike over the RG Kar issue, following the state's refusal to give written minutes of the meeting, the doctors alleged.
Declaring that 'enough is enough', President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday said it is time for India to wake up to the 'perversion' of crimes against women and counter the mindset that sees women as 'less powerful, less capable, less intelligent'.
The top court on Monday directed the protesting resident doctors to resume work by 5 pm on Tuesday, observing that if "there is continued abstention from work, there may be a likelihood of adverse action".
The minister urged the doctors to rejoin work by respecting the Supreme Court's direction to them, but refrained from giving a direct reply on whether the state government would take any punitive action for violating the apex court's order.
Daily life was partially affected in West Bengal on Wednesday due to a 12-hour shutdown called by the Bharatiya Janata Party, protesting the police action against demonstrators during a march to the state secretariat.
West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose on Thursday said that he was apprehending a threat to his security because of the presence of the current contingent of Kolkata Police posted at Raj Bhavan in Kolkata.
An angry Banerjee slammed a minister, a former Trinamool Congress mayor and a few bureaucrats for their "below-par performance".
Violent clashes were witnessed in Bengal on Wednesday, September 13, 2022, during the Bharatiya Janata Party's Nabanna Abhijan (March to Secretariat) protest against the Mamata Banerjee government's alleged corruption.
The governor relieved Chakravorty of her duties on February 12.
Roads around the 19th century iconic Howrah Station resembled a battleground on Tuesday, with brickbats aimed at police personnel flying thick and fast, and drenched protesters hit by water cannons limping to the safety of nearby alleyways and shops.
Adani later tweeted "Delighted to meet @MamataOfficial,Hon'ble Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. "Discussed different investment scenarios and the tremendous potential of West Bengal. "I look forward to attending the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) in April 2022." Nabanna sources said the meeting continued for one-and-half hours.
Banerjee made it clear that she expected the seat-sharing formula to give priority to regional players in areas where they were strong.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said she has written to the Centre, seeking permission to visit the strife-torn state of Manipur.
What some of our leaders were up to in the last couple of days.
Senior BJP leader and former state president of the party, Rahul Sinha, told PTI on Monday that all trains have either left from or would be leaving for their destinations in a few hours' time.
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