Missed out on the political buzz in the poll-bound states of Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry? Here's your daily election dope
Rattled by the public outcry over illegal liquor sale that claimed 173 lives in South 24-Parganas district a week ago, the hooch-sellers have demanded a financial package as a pre-condition to discarding their trade on the lines of the one announced for the Maoists. The bootleggers have formed a committee for this purpose and pasted posters on the walls of the Joynagar railway station, close to Sangrampur, from where most of the victims hailed, requesting a financial package.
The incident, initially reported as a stampede, occurred when there was a huge rush of pilgrims to board vessels to reach Kolkata.
Banerjee said the state is targeting to shift at least 10 lakh people to safer places in a bid to avoid any loss of life.
'For around five hours the storm, reportedly the strongest one ever recorded in the Bay of Bengal, that mother of many a deathly vortex, shook Kolkata like a toddler playing with a rattling toy,' observes Debashish Chatterjee.
Claiming that at least 14 Bharatiya Janata Party workers were killed and nearly one lakh people fled their homes in post-poll violence in West Bengal, party president J P Nadda on Wednesday alleged that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's silence speaks of her involvement.
'Those who win indulge in shooting, looting, throwing bombs and burning houses.'
The Congress on Wednesday decided to take on Trinamool Congress ally Socialist Unity Centre of India in two seats at South 24 Parganas for refusing to withdraw nominees against it in 29 other constituencies for the West Bengal assembly elections.
Sporadic post-poll violence continued on Tuesday in West Bengal claiming several lives as chief minister Mamata Banerjee asked officials to act decisively and Prime Minister Narendra Modi rang up Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar to express anguish over the law-and-order situation.
Shah said Banerjee will not be in a position to oppose the implementation of the CAA as she will cease to be the chief minister after the assembly polls likely in April-May this year.
The group has more than 9000 fans from across the state and the masks have been sent out to the members in various districts like Bardhaman, Asansol, Nadia, North, South 24 Parganas. They will be sporting the masks on Wednesday.
The UNICEF said an estimated 2.4 million children have been affected by the recent floods in the country.
Tapas, the TMC upa-panchayat pradhan of the area, was absconding ever since his name surfaced in the first information report lodged by the family of Kaushik Purkait who was beaten to death on Monday night.
Five Maoists, including a top aide of the outfit's senior leaders Kishenji and Telgu Dipak, were arrested from the outskirts of Kolkata on Tuesday. Acting on a tip-off, five Maoists were arrested from South 24 Parganas, adjoining the metropolis, said Inspector General of Police Neeraj Nayan. Of the arrested ultras, Madhusudhan Mondal alias Narayan, Rajesh Mondal, Sachin Ghosal were arrested from Amtala, while Siddhartha and Sanjay were arrested from Garia, he said.
A Karachi-bound cargo vessel from Bangladesh with heavy military supplies, including explosives, was on Friday detained by the police at Diamond Harbour in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district, top police officials said.Director General of Police Bhupinder Singh said, "It is a consignment of heavy military supplies meant for a consignee in Karachi. Five tonnes of explosives and a huge quantity of arms and ammunition were found after the police detained the vessel."
For Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the transition from a 'people's man' to corporate India's preferred chief minister was rapid, albeit with a cataclysmic effect.
The districts have provided 64 days of jobs under the 100-day job scheme as against the state average of 45 days.
West Bengal Sunderbans Development Minister Kanti Ganguly said 200 pilgrims from Uttar Pradesh were returning to Kakdwip on four motorised boats after offering pujas at Kapil Muni temple at Sagar Islands on the confluence of the Bay of Bengal and Hooghly river when one of the vessels sank.
As many as 550 fishermen in 33 trawlers went missing in the Bay of Bengal on Friday due to heavy rains triggered by a depression, prompting a search by a Coast Guard ship and a Dornier aircraft. The trawlers had set sail from Kakdwip and adjacent areas in South 24 Parganas district on Thursday and were reported missing in heavy rains following the depression lying 80 km east of Kolkata, said District Magistrate N S Nigam.
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.
The world organisation said UN humanitarians and partners were working hard to assist the people of Bangladesh and India suffering from the impact of the cyclone, which made landfall on Wednesday, wreaking havoc, causing high tidal surges, flooding and embankments to collapse.
The Karachi-bound cargo vessel from Bangladesh carrying military hardware and explosives was kept cordoned off on Saturday at Diamond Harbour in South 24 Parganas district with the captain disembarked and taken for questioning.
The death toll in the trawler capsize in Hooghly river shot up to 69 on Monday night with 28 bodies retrieved from the waters, even as search for 43 others missing was suspended for the night due to inclement weather and strong currents.
Eighteen people, 15 women and 3 girl children, were drowned and many were missing when an overcrowded trawler carrying about 100 pilgrims capsized in Hoogly river at Talpatti island in East Midnapore district on Saturday.
As a child, on her way back home from school near Diamond Harbour in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas, Minu would would often imagine herself sailing across unknown seas with an imaginary friend -- London, Paris and America -- being her places of interest. However, her dreams got shattered early in life.
The family members of Partha Bag, one of the victims of the mysterious fire at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Mumbai, have demanded a probe. Bag's relatives have said that the Central Bureau of Investigation should undertake the probe.Questioning the mysterious circumstances that led to the deaths of Bag and another research student, Bag's neighbours also accused BARC of not providing adequate security.
What happens when sports stars have all the free time at hand and no play?
Aggrieved by the violence that marked the panchayat poll in West Bengal which claimed at least 12 lives and left 43 injured, several candidates who were in the fray had met the SEC officials and demanded the repolling.
Thousands of BJP workers from Kolkata and Howrah began marching towards Nabanna to protest the "worsening" law and order in the state.
He is amazingly responsible for his age. At 10, Rahul Mir not only goes to school but also earns and contributes to his family.
At least seven pilgrims were killed and nine injured, four of them seriously, when a stampede broke out at the Gangasagar mela in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal early on Thursday.
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was on Sunday gheraoed twice by relief seekers in the state's South 24 Parganas, the district worst-hit by cyclone Aila, even as the government prepared a memorandum seeking assistance of Rs 1,000 for submission to the Centre.The chief minister had gone to Gosaba in the Sunderbans to see the extent of the disaster and distribution of relief materials.
Since September-October last year, when the real estate market was in deep recession, several developers had started offering gifts like a car or a parking space with flats. For example, Kolkata-based real estate developer RDB Group had decided to give a Nano car with flats at its residential project in Sonarpur, South 24-Parganas.
BJP protest outside Mamata Banerjee's residence over attack on BJP leader Roopa Ganguly's convoy
Exodus of people continued from the Cyclone Aila battered islands of Sundarbans, to escape inundation by full moon high tide 'Bhora Kotal', which is expected to hit the area on Sunday. The fear of heavy rains due to yet another low pressure area in the sea, however, receded with the weather office saying there was no weather warning for any cyclone and rain was expected in the next 24 hours.
Trinamool Congress MP Kabir Suman said "his party is not doing anything for the people", and that he felt "suffocated and helpless" as an elected representative.
33-year-old Abhishek Banerjee has emerged as the most visible and significant leader in the party after his pishi (aunt), Mamata Banerjee reports Ishita Ayan Dutt.
Life in Kolkata came to a standstill even before Cyclone Aila hit on Monday, killing 17, including a woman, and injuring many. High-velocity winds and heavy rains lashed the coastal areas of the state from Monday morning. All flights, including international ones, at the NSC Bose International Airport were suspended from 1400 hours, airport sources said.
With his exit, the TMC will lose a crucial, politically influential vote catcher in the Jungalmahal region and areas in minority-dominated Murshidabad, and the BJP will get a face it badly needs, especially in rural Bengal, reports Aditi Phadnis.
Those who know Alapan Bandyopadhyay describe him as measured, tactical and extremely focused on achieving what he sets out to do. To many it came as a surprise that he would cut short a meeting with the prime minister.
