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West Bengal
Two suspected cases of Nipah virus disease have been identified at the Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratory (VRDL), ICMR, AIIMS Kalyani, West Bengal.Taking immediate action, the central government has deployed a National Joint Outbreak Response Team to support the State Government in containment and public health response measures, according to official sources.The team comprises experts from the All India Institute of Health and Public Hygiene, Kolkata; the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune; the National Institute of Epidemiology (NIE), Chennai; AIIMS Kalyani; and the Department of Wildlife, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.The Secretary, Department of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, held discussions with the Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary (Health), Government of West Bengal, to review the situation and ensure swift and coordinated action.Central Government guidelines on Nipah Virus Disease under the Communicable Disease ...
The Supreme Court on Monday sought a response from the Election Commission on fresh interim pleas of Trinamool Congress MPs alleging arbitrariness and procedural irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal. A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi took note of applications filed by lawmakers Derek O Brien and Dola Sen in their pending petitions challenging the procedural actions taken in the ongoing SIR in the state. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Derek O Brien, said the EC's instructions on the SIR are being issued through social media platforms like WhatsApp and made booth-level officers (BLOs) act without any formal orders. Sibal also said the poll panel has introduced a 'logical discrepancy' category of voters, who may be issued notice for a quasi-judicial hearing on their eligibility over errors or anomalies in the voter details. The counsel representing the poll panel sought two weeks to f
The Enforcement Directorate has approached the Supreme Court alleging interference and obstruction by the West Bengal government, including by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, in its probe and search operation at the I-PAC office and premises of its director Pratik Jain in connection with the coal pilferage scam. The West Bengal government has also filed a caveat in the top court seeking that no order should be passed without hearing it in connection with Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids against political consultancy firm I-PAC. A caveat is filed by a litigant in high courts and the Supreme Court to ensure that no adverse order is passed against it without it being heard. The ED has also alleged that the chief minister entered the raid sites and took away "key" evidence, including physical documents and electronic devices from the premises of I-PAC and obstructed and interfered with the investigation in the case. The probe agency further claimed in its plea that the chief minister
The Election Commission on Saturday appointed four more Special Roll Observers (SROs) for West Bengal to strengthen supervision of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Those named as SROs were Ratan Biswas, Vikas Singh, Sandeep Rewaji Rathod and Dr Shailesh, according to a notification. "The SROs will closely monitor the revision and verification exercises and ensure strict adherence to statutory instructions," an official said. "The SROs were appointed to ensure transparency, accuracy and uniform implementation of instructions related to electoral rolls. They will independently review the process on the ground and flag any deviations for immediate corrective action," he added. Besides SROs, the EC has appointed observers at multiple levels to oversee the SIR exercise. "The focus is on strengthening public confidence in the integrity of the electoral rolls," the official said. The appointments will take effect immediately and remain in force until furt
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday wrote to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has been turned into an exercise to exclude voters rather than correct records. In her letter, Banerjee accused the Election Commission of political bias and high-handedness during the exercise. "The hearing process has become largely mechanical, driven purely by technical data and completely devoid of the application of mind, sensitivity and human touch," she said in the three-page letter. She said the exercise's aim seemed "neither of correction nor of inclusion... but solely of deletion and of exclusion". Banerjee claimed minor spelling or age discrepancies were leading to coercive hearings, harassment and loss of wages for ordinary people. She also highlighted the plight of women who changed surnames after marriage, stating that they were being summoned to prove their identity, which she called a grave
Kolkata Police on Saturday started the process of identifying Enforcement Directorate officials allegedly involved in the theft of documents from the residence of I-PAC chief Pratik Jain and the consultancy firm's office here, after an FIR was filed, a senior officer said. Police are also trying to identify the central agency personnel present at both locations during the operation, he said. On Saturday morning, officers from Shakespeare Sarani Police Station visited Jain's residence and collected CCTV footage and DVR recordings, he said. "Statements of household staff and security personnel were also recorded. Once identification is complete, notices will be issued to the accused," the officer said. TMC chairperson Mamata Banerjee on Friday lodged two police complaints against the ED in connection with the agency's raids at the office of I-PAC and the residence of Prateek Jain. Based on the complaints, the Kolkata and Bidhannagar Police filed FIRs and initiated an ...
The West Bengal government has filed a caveat in the Supreme Court seeking that no order should be passed without hearing it in connection with Enforcement Directorate raids against political consultancy firm I-PAC. A caveat is filed by a litigant in the high courts and the Supreme Court to ensure that no adverse order is passed against it without it being heard. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday conducted searches on the premises of I-PAC and its director Pratik Jain in Kolkata as part of a money laundering probe into an alleged multi-crore rupee coal pilferage scam. According to the agency, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee entered the raid sites and took away "key" evidence, including physical documents and electronic devices. Banerjee has accused the central agency of overreach. The ED on Friday approached the Calcutta High Court, seeking a CBI probe against Banerjee, alleging that she, with the aid of the police, took away incriminating documents from the
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has approached the Calcutta High Court, seeking a CBI investigation into the role of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, senior police officials and others for allegedly obstructing its raids in Kolkata against political consultancy firm I-PAC and its director. PTI has reviewed the writ petition of the federal probe agency, where it has also sought "immediate seizure, sealing, forensic preservation, and restoration to lawful custody of the ED" all digital devices, electronic records, storage media, and documents "illegally and forcibly" taken away from the search premises. The high court is expected to hear the petition on Friday. The search was mounted on Thursday at the Salt Lake office of I-PAC and its founder and one of the directors Pratik Gandhi as part of an alleged coal scam-linked money laundering case. Some other locations in the state and Delhi were also raided. The ED had alleged in a press statement on Thursday that Banerjee ...
The TMC on Friday moved the Calcutta High Court against the ED raids at the office of political consultancy firm I-PAC and the residence of its chief here, seeking restraint on misuse and dissemination of documents seized during the search operations. The ruling party in West Bengal, in its petition, alleged that the ED seized sensitive and confidential political data meant for the TMC's use in the upcoming assembly elections, in a display of arbitrary, mala fide, and colourable exercise of power. PTI has accessed the synopsis of the petition, which refers to the probe agency's search and seizure operations under Section 17 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, on January 8. The ED maintained that the operations were part of a probe into an alleged multi-crore rupee coal pilferage scam. The petitioner submits that the seized articles and electronic data consist of confidential political data/information/documents relating to campaign strategy, internal assessments, resear
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday alleged that ED officials were attempting to seize TMC's hard disks, internal documents and sensitive organisational data during a search operation at the residence of I-PAC chief Prateek Jain here. She described the raid at the residence of Jain as politically motivated and unconstitutional. I-PAC also looks after the IT cell of the Trinamool Congress. Banerjee made the allegations after emerging from Jain's Loudon Street residence here, where searches have been underway since Thursday morning. Search operations were also being conducted at the office of the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), the consultancy firm Jain heads. Claiming that the ED was trying to access the ruling party's internal strategy, candidate lists and confidential digital material, Banerjee said such information had no link to any financial probe. They are trying to take our party's hard disk, strategy and plans. Is it the duty of the ED to coll
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged on Tuesday that the Election Commission is using mobile applications developed by the BJP's IT cell to conduct the ongoing SIR exercise in the state. Speaking to reporters before concluding her two-day visit to Sagar Island in South 24 Parganas district to oversee preparations for the upcoming Gangasagar Mela, Banerjee accused the EC of "resorting to all kinds of wrong moves while conducting the electoral roll revision. The EC is resorting to all kinds of wrong moves for conducting the SIR. It is marking eligible voters as dead' and forcing the elderly, ill and indisposed to attend hearings. It is making use of mobile apps developed by the BJP's IT cell for the exercise. This is illegal, unconstitutional and undemocratic. This cannot go on, the chief minister alleged. The TMC supremo's fresh set of allegations against the poll panel was made on a day when her party MP Derek O'Brien moved the Supreme Court against the EC, claiming it
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said she would move court against what she described as the "inhumane" conduct of the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state. Addressing a public meeting in Sagar Island in South 24 Parganas district, she alleged that fear, harassment and administrative arbitrariness linked to the exercise had led to deaths and hospitalisations of several people. "We are moving court tomorrow against the inhumane treatment and the death of so many people due to the SIR," she said. "If allowed, I will also move the Supreme Court and plead as a common person against this inhumane exercise. I am also a trained lawyer," she said. Banerjee alleged that names were being "arbitrarily struck off" the voter rolls without valid reasons, turning a routine administrative process into a source of fear ahead of the assembly elections. She claimed that terminally ill people and elderly citizens were being forced to stand in long queue
An elderly woman was killed and two others, including a child, were injured after a portion of the roof of a dilapidated building collapsed in Kolkata's Park Circus area in the early hours of Monday, police said. The incident happened between 3 and 3.30 am near Lohar Pool when a part of the ground floor ceiling fell where five people were sleeping, they said. Three people were injured, and they rushed to a nearby hospital, but one of them was declared brought dead, police said. One of the injured suffered a fracture in his leg, while a child sustained injuries to the nose and mouth, they said. Residents said several families live on rent in the building and they had repeatedly requested the owner to repair the structure, which was in a severely dilapidated condition. No written complaint has been lodged against the building owner so far, police said. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation is monitoring the situation and may conduct an inspection of the building to assess its structura
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday expressed confidence that the NDA would emerge victorious in the Assembly polls due this year in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Addressing a mega BJP rally here, Shah listed out BJP-NDA's wins since 2024, including a third consecutive win in Haryana and said it was now the turn of Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Slamming the ruling DMK over alleged corruption, he asked if the state can progress with an "army of corrupt ministers." He targeted the DMK for dynasty rule and said a dream to perpetuate it would not come true and the time has come to put an end to family politics in Tamil Nadu. BJP's key alliance partner AIADMK's chief Edappadi K Palaniswami addressed a rally in Salem district almost coinciding with Shah's public meeting time.