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Nine people, including a four-year-old child, were killed and six injured when a fire swept through a five-storey building housing several hotels in central Kolkata on Wednesday, with several Bangladeshis among the dead, prompting the government to order a statewide fire-safety audit. Officials of the state government and the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission initially said five of the deceased were Bangladeshis, including a woman and a child. However, sources at the Bangladesh mission later said the number of Bangladeshis killed in the blaze had risen to seven, adding that an official statement would be issued on Thursday morning. The blaze at Shikha Inn on Mirza Ghalib Street, near the New Market area, came barely 48 hours after another hotel fire in Tarapith killed nine people, putting the safety standards of the state's hospitality sector under renewed scrutiny. Fire and Emergency Services Minister Kaushik Chowdhury said the fire brigade received the call at 2.07 am and began .
At least nine people died, and six were injured in a fire at a hotel on Mirza Galib Street in central Kolkata early on Wednesday night, police said. Five fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the blaze that erupted around 1.45 am. Police and Disaster Management Department personnel reached the spot for the rescue operation. The injured have been taken to a nearby hospital. "The dense smoke made it difficult for firefighters to climb the staircase and reach the upper floors. While nine people have died, more deaths are feared," a police officer told PTI. "Our priority is to rescue those trapped and determine the reasons for the fire. The flames have been doused, and the cooling process is underway," he added. West Bengal Fire Department headquarters is located close to the hotel building.
A fire broke out at the old Air Traffic Control (ATC) building of N S C Bose International Airport here on Tuesday, officials said. There was no report of any injury or any flight disruptions due to the fire, they said. Airport employees noticed the fire on the third floor of the building. Two fire tenders were rushed to the spot, which brought the blaze under control, officials said. The fire was brought under control and did not spread to other parts of the building, Airport director Vikram Singh said. "Fire broke out in an open area on the third floor of the old ATC building. It was brought under control and did not spread," Singh said. According to preliminary assessments by fire officials, the old ATC building had been decorated with string lights on the occasion of Independence Day. The fire is suspected to have been caused by a short circuit in one of the decorative lights. Airport authorities said that there was no major damage in the incident. The exact cause of the fire
A city court on Tuesday granted bail to 18 people, after initially remanding them to two days of judicial custody, who were arrested in connection with violence during a NEET paper leak protest by the Left students' organisations. Several journalists were injured when some people attacked them during the march from Sealdah station to Esplanade in central Kolkata on July 24. The court granted bail to all 18 people arrested in connection with violence during the NEET paper leak protest by the Left students' organisations. Sixteen were arrested earlier, while two others were apprehended by the police on Monday. The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court had earlier in the day remanded the arrested persons in connection with violence during a NEET paper leak protest by the Left students' organisations to judicial custody till July 30. The accused persons were represented by lawyers Shamim Ahmed, Raja Sengupta, Yasin Rahaman, Sanjay Kumar Gupta and other advocates. Following Friday's u
The toll in the Kolkata warehouse collapse incident rose to 16 on Saturday with the death of an injured person in a hospital, while rescue teams from multiple agencies sifted through the debris on the fourth day since the incident to ensure no one is still trapped, officials said. Cameras have been placed beneath the rubble to check for trapped persons, while mobile phone tower data is being used to trace the location of individuals whose phones remain active under the debris. "Our first priority is to complete the search and rescue operation. Teams are carefully checking every part of the collapsed structure. Massive debris clearance will start only after we are fully satisfied that no one is trapped inside," an official said. Large-scale debris removal will begin only after rescue personnel are certain that there are no more survivors or bodies under the rubble, he said. A senior state government official said, "A person, Khalek Sardar of Basanti, undergoing treatment at the ...
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Thursday said nine people have died and 20 others were injured when an under-construction warehouse collapsed in Kolkata's Taratala area a day ago. In a statement in the Assembly, he announced Rs 10 lakh compensation for the families of each deceased and Rs one lakh for each injured in the incident. Of the 20 injured, one is in critical condition, and four are in serious condition, the chief minister said. Stating that five people have been arrested in connection with the warehouse collapse at Transport Depot Road in west Kolkata, Adhikari asserted that no one will be spared. He said that former mayor and minister Firhad Hakim's signature appears on the building plan of the collapsed warehouse. A day earlier, the chief minister said that preliminary inputs received from Kolkata Municipal Corporation engineers suggested that there were defects in the building plan approved for the warehouse. He has suspended till July 31 the work of a
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday commissioned three indigenously-built naval ships at the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port here. The three indigenously built frontline platforms -- stealth frigate Dunagiri, survey vessel (large) Sanshodhak, and anti-submarine warfare shallow water craft Agray-- represent key operational capabilities across maritime combat, hydrographic surveying and anti-submarine warfare. West Bengal Governor R N Ravi, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, and Indian Navy Chief Admiral Krishna Swaminathan were among the dignitaries present at the commissioning event. The vessels were designed by the Indian Navy's Warship Design Bureau and built by Kolkata-based Defence PSU Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd. These platforms have indigenous content exceeding 75 per cent, with extensive participation by the Indian industry, including more than 200 MSMEs, in their construction, an official said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Sunday lead the nation in observing the 12th International Day of Yoga from Red Road in central Kolkata. He will also commission three indigenously designed and built naval ships at the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port here. Addressing a programme to mark the 'Paschimbanga Divas' of West Bengal Day at Tarakeswar on Saturday, the PM urged the people across the state to organise Yoga Day events and participate actively. Stating that he will participate in Yoga Day here this time, Modi said, "I want Yoga Day celebrations to be organised across Bengal, in every corner." He said that this land of yogis like Swami Vivekananda and Maharshi Aurobindo will send a guiding message to the entire world. Yoga Day celebrations are being organised across nearly 2,500 locations worldwide, with participation from more than 210 Indian missions and posts, reaffirming yoga's status as a global movement for health, harmony and collective well-being, an official statement
US Consul General in Kolkata Kathy Giles-Diaz said trafficking networks pose a serious threat to communities and national security, and stressed the need for dismantling such transnational criminal operations at their source. Addressing the 'US-India Cooperation to Counter Trafficking Threats' conclave in Ranchi, Giles-Diaz said trafficking networks harm communities, threaten national security, and exploit the most vulnerable. "That is why we are here -- not just to talk, but to act. Under President Trump, American foreign policy is anchored by a clear directive: Make America Safer. That means disrupting transnational criminal networks at the source," she said. "None of this can be done alone. We are here to work alongside you," she added. The US Consulate General in Kolkata hosted the Enforcement Cooperation Conclave in Ranchi on Thursday, bringing together representatives from government agencies, law enforcement bodies, civil society organisations, NGOs and academia. The ...
Kolkata Metro Railway will start services from 4 am on Sunday, nearly five hours before the normal schedule, on its three corridors to help people attend the International Day of Yoga celebration at Red Road, officials said. Additional services have also been planned, keeping in mind the large turnout expected at the Yoga Day event and the transportation needs of NEET-UG aspirants and their guardians. The timings of the last Metro services from terminal stations will remain unchanged. On the Blue Line, connecting Dakshineswar and Shahid Khudiram, Metro Railway will operate 214 services (107 in each direction) against the usual 152 on Sundays. Trains will run at intervals of 14-15 minutes between 4 am and 8 am. Between Howrah Maidan and Salt Lake Sector V stations on the Green Line, 173 services (87 UP and 86 DN) will be operated compared with the normal 108 on Sundays. Trains will operate every 10-15 minutes between 4 am and 9 am. On the Yellow Line that links Noapara and Jai Hind
Police issued a fresh notice to former West Bengal sports minister Aroop Biswas on Saturday, asking him to appear before investigators within 48 hours for questioning in a case related to the chaos at the Lionel Messi event at Salt Lake Stadium in December. Biswas had not complied with two notices sent by the Bidhannagar police earlier to appear before it for questioning in the case. He had sought time for appearance, citing personal reasons, sources said. They said that officers served the third notice at the registered address of the former minister. This came after the Calcutta High Court granted protection to Biswas from coercive action till August 17 and directed him to appear before the probe agency on a notice by it, which is to be served at least 48 hours prior. The case stems from an FIR lodged against him by the event organiser Shatadru Dutta, accusing the former minister of black-marketing tickets, extortion, criminal intimidation and cheating in connection with the ...
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Kolkata on Saturday for his four-day diplomatic tour to India, with the city marking the opening leg of a visit that carries considerable political and historical resonance. His arrival in the eastern metropolis ended a 14-year hiatus since an American secretary of state last visited the city, coming only weeks after West Bengal witnessed a landmark political transition with a BJP-led government assuming office. In a post on X, US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor said, "Secretary Marco Rubio has landed in Kolkata. This is his first trip to India. Later today, we will call on Prime Minister @narendramodi in New Delhi. Trade, Technology, Defense, QUAD, and many other items to discuss and advance over the next few days!" Rubio became the first US secretary of state to set foot in Kolkata since Hillary Clinton visited the city in May 2012. Although the US Department of State was yet to publish Rubio's Kolkata itinerary, sources in the US ...
Security was tightened across key locations in Kolkata on Saturday ahead of the swearing-in ceremony of the first BJP government in West Bengal, including at the residence of chief minister-designate Suvendu Adhikari, Brigade Parade Grounds and outside former CM Mamata Banerjee's Kalighat residence. Heavy security deployment was seen outside Adhikari's Chinar Park residence here. Security arrangements were also intensified at the RCTC Ground, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to land before attending the ceremony. A multi-layered security apparatus, including central forces and Kolkata Police personnel, was put in place at Brigade Parade Grounds, the venue of the swearing-in ceremony of the newly elected BJP government. CRPF personnel were deployed outside Banerjee's Kalighat residence amid heightened political activity in the city. The BJP registered a historic win in the polls, ending Trinamool Congress' 15-year rule in the state. Meanwhile, BJP supporters from nor
Hours after party supremo Mamata Banerjee urged TMC leaders, workers and polling agents to maintain a 24-hour vigil over strongrooms housing EVMs, party candidates Kunal Ghosh and Shashi Panja staged a sit-in protest at Khudiram Anushilan Kendra on Thursday, alleging irregular activities inside the facility. The protest came a day after the second phase of polling in West Bengal on Wednesday, following which EVMs were stored in strongrooms at the centre. Meanwhile, TMC sources said that the CM was also heading to the centre to take stock of the situation. Alleging procedural lapses, TMC leaders claimed party workers stationed outside the strongroom were asked to leave in the afternoon and later received information that the strongroom would be reopened at 4 pm. Speaking on the incident, Ghosh claimed, "Party workers and supporters were present outside the strongroom till 3.30 pm. Suddenly, an email was sent informing that the strongroom would be opened again at 4 pm. We contacted o
Kolkata-based Nipha Group has launched a brand OneHorn, as part of a push to expand its agriculture machinery business in at least 20 states and 10 countries, including the US and European markets, company officials said on Sunday. Its chairman Mahesh Chandra Shah said the Indian agricultural ecosystem was at an inflection point where mechanisation and entrepreneurship must come together. "With our brand, we are building a structured, partner-first platform that enables our channel associates to grow as agripreneurs - stronger, more profitable, and future-ready," he said. The company, which began its agri-business journey in 1988 with spare part supplies before graduating to components and then full machines, claimed that OneHorn is the first brand in eastern India to offer a diversified range of agri equipment with a make-in-India focus. Executive Director Aakash Shah said the brand is designed to give partners "the right products, systems, and support to scale their business with