The impact of the explosion "was so massive" that the factory, which was being run from a residential building, collapsed, the police said.
'Till today, we don't know how many people died of Covid in India.' 'How many migrated from cities to villages during the Covid pandemic?' 'How many corporates contributed to PM Cares?'
In power, Mamata Banerjee has tried to bury the ghost of the past, but it might still be work-in-progress. Big-ticket and eye-grabbing (in terms of investment size) projects are still few and far between, reports Ishita Ayan Dutt.
West Bengal Governor Dr CV Ananda Bose on Friday said that political violence in the state must come to an end, after visiting Bhangore, where supporters of two political parties clashed a day before leaving three dead.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) hand-delivered a summons to Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee for questioning in connection with the teachers' recruitment scam case on Monday, allegedly over two hours after the Supreme Court had stayed a high court order for his interrogation.
Shortly after arrest, BJP state headquarters in Kolkata was attacked allegedly by members of TMC student wing.
Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned sine die on Thursday, a day ahead of the scheduled end of the Winter session, that saw a security breach in the lower house, suspension of over 140 MPs and the expulsion of Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Tuesday poised to form the government for a third consecutive term with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance getting a majority in the Lok Sabha, notwithstanding crushing losses in three Hindi heartland states after a bitterly fought election that was projected as a referendum on his popularity.
In a communication to the West Bengal chief secretary, the ministry of home affairs said as per the IPS cadre rules, the Centre prevails over the state government in case of any dispute.
The top court, however, did not stay at this stage the part of the high court order which had said that central probe agencies could quiz the Trinamool Congress general secretary in connection with these cases and fixed his plea for hearing in July.
The three officers -- Bholanath Pandey (SP, Diamond Harbour), Praveen Tripathi (DIG, Presidency Range) and Rajeev Mishra (ADG, South Bengal) -- were responsible for the security of the BJP chief during his December 9-10 visit to the politically volatile state.
West Bengal Congress spokesperson Kaustav Bagchi was granted bail by a court in Kolkata on Saturday evening, hours after being arrested for his alleged comments against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
The actress-turned-politician was seen on TV footage pushing the hand of TMC activist Soma Das following angry exchanges.
Three persons, including two supporters of the Indian Secular Front (ISF), were killed and several policemen injured in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district as a clash broke out outside a centre where counting of votes for rural polls was going on, police said on Wednesday.
The central agency asked Banerjee to appear at its Kolkata office on Friday morning, he said.
"The agenda as published at the moment, is much ado about nothing - all this could have waited till Winter session in November. I am sure the legislative grenades are being kept up their sleeves to be unleashed at the last moment as usual. Parde ke peeche kuch aur hai!" he said.
After the video clip of his comments went viral, Giri apologised for making such a remark.
High voter turnout was recorded in most of the seven assembly constituencies in six states where by-elections were held on Tuesday.
The announcement is seen as a bid to assert Banerjee's control over the party, and stem dissension between a section of TMC's old guard and the next generation leaders.
The Congress on Tuesday suffered a major upset in Himachal Pradesh at the hands of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Rajya Sabha elections which were marred by cross-voting in all the three states though it won three seats in Karnataka while the saffron party pocketed an extra seat in Uttar Pradesh.
Rajya Sabha members Mausam Noor and Priyanka Chaturvedi have written to Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, complaining about 'sloganeering' from the visitors' gallery of the House on September 21 and requesting him to take action in the matter.
'Are we so ready to believe that in this country whose virtues we constantly shout from the rooftops, there is no single person -- other than Modi -- in a minimum of 272 elected MPs with the talent and ability to lead this country?' asks Prem Panicker.
A group of locals set fire to Kaliaganj police station in West Bengal's Uttar Dinajpur district on Tuesday to protest against the death of a teenage girl whose body was found in a canal last week.
However, the national party count has gone down to six from 14 in over seven decades.
Banerjee, who is staging a two-day sit-in to protest alleged discrimination by the Centre against the state, had on Wednesday in a change of stance urged all political parties in the country to unitedly fight the Bharatiya Janata Party in next year's Lok Sabha election.
While the opposition alliance is putting up a united front in Ghosi constituency in Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand's Dumri, Dhanpur and Boxanagar in Tripura and Uttarakhand's Bageshwar, its constituents are contesting against each other in Dhupguri in West Bengal and Puthuppally in Kerala.
"Why was the server down for four hours? We are willing to accept people's mandate but if the result of one place has anomalies, there may be something beyond what appears. We have to seek the truth," she added.
With Thursday's win, the Congress's strength in the Lok Sabha has gone up to 48.
The bill seeks to reserve one-third of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies.
Shiv Sena leader and Kalyan MP Shrikant Shinde on Sunday launched a scathing attack on former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and his MLA son Aaditya Thackeray, accusing them of looting Mumbai and pushing the 'Marathi manoos' out of the city in the last 15 years.
The BJP is now inventing new angles to keep its campaign relevant -- even if it's old wine in an old bottle, which is what the allegation on 'Katchatheevu' is, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
While the saffron camp questioned the administrative capabilities of the Mamata Banerjee-led state government, the Trinamool Congress claimed that BJP leaders "behaved like good boys" this time.
Earlier during the day, the agency carried out searches at two premises of Mishra in Kolkata in connection with the case but could not find him there
Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra was expelled on Friday from the Lok Sabha after the House adopted the report of its Ethics Committee that held her guilty of accepting gifts and illegal gratification from a businessman to further his interest.
The opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) was in the grip of a crisis on Saturday with the Janata Dal-United saying the alliance was collapsing amid indications that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will switch back to the National Democratic Alliance, prompting the Congress to allege that the Bharatiya Janata Party is doing its best to cause a 'mini implosion' in the coalition.
The CBI source alleged that the body of the accused was found in the washroom of the office which the agency has set up in a guest house in Rampurhat.
The FIR has been lodged with Amherst police station and a legal notice was sent to director Sanoj Mishra asking him to appear before the investigating officer of the case on May 30, a senior police officer said.
Three persons were killed, while three were injured and at least five houses were set on fire when Trinamool Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party supporters fought a gun duel at Makra village in Birbhum district on Monday.
Opposition parties on Thursday continued their attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over inauguration of the new Parliament building and accused him of being 'megalomaniac' and the government of being 'arrogant'.
The Supreme Court on Monday quashed the Gujarat government's decision to grant remission to 11 convicts in the case of gangrape of Bilkis Bano and murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 riots in the state, saying the orders were "stereotyped" and passed without application of mind.
