Rain deficiency in eastern and western Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Gangetic West Bengal, Assam and Meghalaya is 20-46 per cent less than normal as of June 17.
The third phase of polling will take place on May 7, 2024.
The Centre sent a reminder to West Bengal Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay who 'retired' on Monday to report to the Personnel Ministry in Delhi at 10 am on Tuesday, failing which disciplinary action would be initiated against him, officials said.
The Centre has sought a detailed report from the West Bengal government on the circumstances leading to the violence.
'Look at the number of billionaires, the number of new billionaires in India.' 'Adani and Ambani are not the only ones.' 'What's wrong with people making money as long as it benefits us?'
'A loss of seats for the Trinamool in this election will weaken its hold in Bengal, which will not augur well before the assembly election in 2021.'
The move came after a nine-member delegation of Bharatiya Janata Party MPs from West Bengal met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and sought his intervention and action against the perpetrators of the crime.
A Trinamool Congress legislator on Sunday threatened to not support any bill tabled by the government in the West Bengal Assembly in the future and abstain from voting in the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls in the state if 'atrocities' on his loyalists allegedly by a rival faction continued, even as the Bharatiya Janata Party said the collapse of the Mamata Banerjee government was just a matter of time.
West Bengal is home to 43,000 Durga Pujas, and the business around it is a major economic driver.
The protestors called the state's administrative measures "only partial victory" of their movement.
The rains after arriving over Kerala will quickly cover Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, but then might slacken a bit, which could delay its arrival over Northwest India.
Considering the competition, engineering aspirants should ideally consider taking a minimum of five to seven entrance exams to maximise their chances of success and broaden their options when it comes to college, says rediffGURU Nayagam PP.
The bypoll on September 5 is also a litmus test for all three political outfits, with the BJP hoping to check its erosion in its vote share and retain the seat, the TMC aiming to wrest the tribal-dominated assembly segment and the CPI(M)-Congress alliance hoping to regain its traditional seat.
The Calcutta high court on Wednesday directed that Trinamool Congress leader Shajahan Sheikh, the main accused in alleged sexual atrocities on women and land grabbing at Sandeshkhali, can be arrested by the CBI, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) or the West Bengal police.
The doctors asserts that they will take a final call on withdrawing their agitation only after the state government implements its announcements made on the previous night "in true spirit".
'Yaas' is likely to cross the Odisha-West Bengal coasts between Paradip and Sagar Islands around noon on May 26 as a very severe cyclonic storm with wind speeds of 155-165 kmph, Kolkata's Regional Meteorological Centre Deputy Director Sanjib Bandopadhyay said.
Nature therapy package launched ahead of Nathu-La traffic.
Trinamool Congress supporters celebrate their party candidates' victory in the West Bengal panchayat elections 2023, at counting centres in North 24 Parganas, Howrah and Birbhum on Tuesday, July 11, 2023.
At least 22 more people succumbed to the infection, raising the toll in the state to 10,480.
An elephant which had strayed from nearby Baikunthapur forest to Siliguri town went on a rampage for around seven hours damaging over 40 houses and some vehicles before it was tranquilised.
A Sikh Indian Police Service officer, who was deputed at Dhamakhali to prevent senior West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party leader Suvendu Adhikari from visiting restive Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district, got agitated after a group of activists of the saffron party allegedly hurled the 'Khalistani' jibe at him.
West Bengal and Odisha have evacuated lakhs of people from vulnerable areas to safety as severe cyclonic storm 'Yaas' is nearing the coast and is expected to make landfall near Dhamra Port in Bhadrak district early on Wednesday morning.
Besides the national capital, polling will be held Saturday in 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, all 10 seats of Haryana, eight seats each in Bihar and West Bengal, six seats in Odisha, four seats in Jharkhand and one seat in Jammu and Kashmir. Simultaneously, polling will be held for 42 assembly constituencies in Odisha.
"Does God send his emissary to sponsor hooliganism in the name of CAA or stop funds for 100-day work or prevent rural houses from being built? Does God go back on his promise of depositing Rs 15 lakhs in people's bank accounts? God cannot do such things," she added.
A four-member team of the Union home ministry, tasked with looking into reasons for the post-poll violence in West Bengal, met Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar at the Raj Bhavan.
The ruling Trinamool Congress on Thursday hailed the arrest of absconding party leader Shajahan Sheikh, accused of torturing villagers in trouble-torn Sandeshkhali area, and said it was possible only after the court cleared the decks and accused the opposition of exploiting the earlier 'embargo' on his arrest.
The Narendra Modi wave seems to have reached the Bengal shores, indicated by the more than two-fold increase in the membership of the Bharatiya Janata Party's state unit.
The quake was at a depth of 10 km in the Bay of Bengal and was about 296 km south-south east of Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh and 320 km east north east of Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday asserted that the Union government is making record investment for railway infrastructure modernisation.
The Odisha government has asked all the district collectors to remain prepared for any eventuality, and directed the administration to evacuate people from low-lying areas in the event of heavy rain.
'Kajol has always been very particular about Nysa and Yug coming for the puja every year.'
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday expressed confidence in the unity of the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) in combating injustice nationwide, a day after Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee's decision to go solo in the Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal.
The TMC expects to emerge victorious by way of a majority of minority votes and a minority of majority votes, notes Arun Bhatnagar, a retired IAS officer.
Patra, who is yet to join the BJP officially, was fielded from Basirhat Lok Sabha seat.
>Bihar (18 days) has the most number of heatwave days in 2023, followed by Andhra Pradesh (15 days), Odisha (15 days), Jharkhand (13 days), West Bengal (8 days) and Tamil Nadu (6 days).
A total of 113 teams were deployed by the federal contingency force in the two states and adjoining areas for launching relief and rescue in the wake of the cyclone.
Gurung vowed to support the TMC in the 2021 Bengal assembly elections.
The Bharatiya Janata Party surprised many with its latest list of Lok Sabha candidates for West Bengal, nominating a protester from Sandeshkhali for the Basirhat constituency and changing the seats of its two incumbent MPs -- the party's former state chief Dilip Ghosh and ex-Union minister Debasree Chowdhury.
Trade between India and Bangladesh via land ports came to a standstill on Sunday as there was no movement of cargo trucks to and fro due to the ongoing student protests in the neighbouring country, officials said. The Bangladeshi side of the Petrapole landport remained non-functional, they said. Nearly one-third of land-based trade between India and Bangladesh takes place through Petrapole.
Senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress were stopped by police on Friday from visiting the trouble-torn Sandeshkhali, escalating the political tensions in the state as the leaders accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of fostering a 'lawless situation' and attempting to 'communalise' the issue.
