If Meta executives are summoned by the Parliamentary standing committee on communications and information technology, they should be questioned about the company's decision to stop fact-checking and changes in its content guidelines on hate speech and disinformation, panel member and TMC MP Saket Gokhale said on Wednesday. Gokhale's remarks come a day after BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, who heads the panel, said the committee will summon executives from social media giant Meta for "tarnishing" India's image amid a controversy over its CEO Mark Zuckerberg's statement during a podcast that after the COVID-19 pandemic, most incumbent governments, including the one in India, lost elections in 2024. In a letter to Dubey, Gokhale said that in the same interview, Zuckerberg also announced that the platform would be ending its fact-check programme and would also be making changes to its community guidelines. "It has been reported on several occasions that there has been a significant misuse of Me
Police on Saturday said they have so far arrested five persons in connection with the murder of Malda English Bazar Trinamool Congress councillor Dulal Sarkar. Sarkar, described by West Bengal Chief Minister Banerjee as a close associate of hers and a popular leader, was shot dead by miscreants in Malda district on Thursday morning. Two men were arrested on Friday after apprehending three others on the day of the murder, taking the total number of arrests in the case to five, a senior police officer said. The arrested accused persons were identified by the police as Bihar's Katihar district natives Sameer Akhtar, Mohammad Abdul Gani and Malda residents Tinku Ghosh, Abhijeet Ghosh and Amit Raja. Sarkar was shot in the head multiple times from close range after chasing him into a shop in English Bazar town's Jhaljhalia More, when he tried to flee the bike-borne assailants, according to the police. The TMC supremo expressed shock over the killing of Sarkar, who was popular by his ...
Trinamool Congress councillor Dulal Sarkar was shot dead by unidentified miscreants in West Bengal's Malda district on Thursday morning, police said. Sarkar, the TMC councillor from Malda, was shot in his head multiple times from close range by bike-borne assailants at Jhaljhalia More area, they said. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he succumbed to injuries. A probe has been initiated and we are trying to identify the culprits, a senior police officer told PTI. Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee expressed shock over the killing of Sarkar, who was popularly known as Babla. My close associate and a very popular leader, Babla Sarkar, has been murdered today. From the beginning of the Trinamool Congress, he (and his wife Chaitali Sarkar) worked hard for the party, and Babla was also elected a councillor, she said in a post on X. ... I am so shocked and sad that I do not know how to convey my condolences to the bereaved family. May God give Chaitali strength to sur
Calling it the 'blueprint' of central government, Mamata Banerjee alleged that the BSF was allowing 'Bangladeshi terrorists' to cross the border to create instability in West Bengal
Holding a minister's post does not entitle a person for a special consideration for the grant of bail, the Supreme Court said on Friday, asserting that "official positions, regardless of their stature, lose relevance for the purpose of exercising judicial discretion judiciously". A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan, which granted conditional future bail to former West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee in a money-laundering case related to the alleged cash-for-jobs scam in the state, said impartiality is a prerequisite to the rule of law, wherein decisions are based on the factual matrix of a case as opposed to an individual's position or influence. It rejected Chatterjee's argument seeking special consideration for the grant of bail on the ground that he was entitled for the relief as he was a minister at the relevant time. "In this context, the argument that the appellant's position as a minister entitles him to any special consideration does not hold merit from either
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra's reference to the death of judge B H Loya "long before his time" created uproar in Lok Sabha on Friday as Union minister Kiren Rijiju accused her of raising a matter settled by the Supreme Court, and warned of "appropriate parliamentary action". Participating in a debate on 75 years of the Indian Constitution, Moitra made a passing, but contentious, remarks on Loya's death as she attacked the ruling BJP for allegedly targeting institutions and opposition leaders to silence critical voices. The House was adjourned briefly twice due to the uproar over the matter. BJP member Nishikant Dubey first raised the issue after her speech was over. He also objected to her criticism of former chief justice of India D Y Chandrachud, who recently retired, for a host of reasons, including receiving Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence during the Ganapati festival. Dubey accused Moitra of making insinuation about Loya's death. Rijiju said the case is .
RJD chief Lalu Prasad on Tuesday asserted that West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee should be allowed to lead the INDIA bloc. His comment comes days after Banerjee expressed her intent to take charge of the anti-BJP coalition. Prasad also said if the Congress, a major ally of the INDIA bloc, had any reservation about accepting Banerjee as the leader of the opposition front, it would "not make any difference". "Mamta Banerjee should be allowed to head the INDIA bloc," the RJD chief said. Asked about the Congress' "reservation" to accept her as the opposition bloc leader, Lalu said, "The Congress' opposition will not make any differenceShe should be allowed to lead the INDIA bloc." Earlier, Lalu's son and senior RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav had said he had "no objection to any senior leader of the INDIA bloc, including Banerjee, leading the coalition", but stressed that the decision must be reached through consensus. Banerjee had, on December 6, ..
Devendra Fadnavis' return to Maharashtra throne, assassination attempt on Sukhbir Singh Badal in Punjab and more in this week's political news wrap
Earlier in August, the Supreme Court had questioned the 'quality of prosecution and evidence' garnered in cases related to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, by the Directorate of Enforcement
At the meeting, TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee smashed a glass water bottle and threw it away during a heated exchange of words with Bharatiya Janata Party's Abhijit Gangopadhyay
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TMC leader Derek O'Brien on Sunday alleged parliamentary standing committees had not been formed despite the 18th Lok Sabha completing 100 days since its constitution and said Parliament was being turned into a "deep, dark chamber". In a post on X, the Trinamool Congress' (TMC) leader in the Rajya Sabha said seven out of 10 Bills were sent to department-related standing committees of Parliament in the 15th Lok Sabha while only two out of 10 Bills were sent to the panels in the last Lok Sabha. "Parliamentary standing committees have not yet been formed. In the 15th Lok Sabha, seven out of 10 Bills were sent to committees for scrutiny. In the last Lok Sabha, only two out of 10 Bills got scrutinised ," O'Brien said. "Parliament is being turned into a deep, dark chamber," he added. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said on September 11 that department-related standing committees and consultative committees of Parliament would be constituted shortly. According to data compile
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TMC has distanced itself from Bengal Minister Swapan Debnath's comments, made about the women participating in the 'Reclaim the Night' movements after the RG Kar rape-murder incident
Jawhar Sircar attributed the ongoing public anger in West Bengal to the unchecked power of certain individuals in the Trinamool Congress party
RG Kar hospital case updates: Catch all the news developments related to the investigation here
Assam Trinamool Congress president Ripun Bora on Sunday resigned from the party, claiming that the people of the northeastern state consider it as a "regional party" of West Bengal and are "not willing to accept" it as their own. In a letter to All India Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, the former Rajya Sabha member said he had offered many suggestions to party supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to make TMC acceptable in Assam, but those were "not implemented". "Assam TMC has great potential, but several recurring issues have hindered our progress, including the perception of TMC as a regional party of West Bengal. To counter this perception, we made several suggestions," Bora said in his resignation letter. He claimed that he had suggested the need for an Assamese leader at the national level of TMC, declaring the residence of Bharat Ratna Dr Bhupen Hazarika at Tollygunge in Kolkata as a heritage site and converting the Madhupur Satra at .
Kolkata murder-rape case updates: Catch all the news developments related to the investigation here
Kolkata murder-rape case updates: Catch all the news developments related to the investigation here
Demanding enactment of stricter anti-rape laws by the Centre, TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee said he will move a private member's bill in the Lok Sabha. The TMC national general secretary said that if the Centre "fails" to enact a stricter law that would ensure quick trial and sentencing of those found guilty, he will lead protests in Delhi. "Our only demand is stricter anti-rape legislation," the TMC MP said, addressing a Trinamool Congress students' wing rally on its foundation day, here. He said that the TMC will take to the streets if the Centre does not enact a new law to ensure a time-bound trial and sentencing of the accused found guilty of rape charges. "If the central government does not enact this law, I will move a private member's bill for the new law," he said. Banerjee said that the TMC was demanding justice and quick trial and sentencing in the rape and murder of a woman trainee doctor in R G Kar Medical College and Hospital. He said that if this government could imp