Page 31 - Kolkata

Heavy rains may lash Kolkata during Durga Puja, organisers on tenterhooks

Durga Puja in Kolkata and southern West Bengal districts is likely to be rain-drenched this year with the Met department on Tuesday saying that a cyclonic circulation may form over northwest Bay of Bengal on October 1. Regional Met director GK Das said that the system is likely to cause heavy rain in Kolkata and other southern districts on October 2 -- Mahasaptami, the first day of the four-day festival. "Rainfall is likely on all four days of the festival, with heavier precipitation on October 2 and light to moderate rain till October 5 thereafter," Das said. The cyclonic circulation may intensify after formation on October 1, he said. The community puja organisers said they are taking all precautions to save the pandals and artwork. Bikash Majumder, the secretary of College Square Puja committee, said "We don't have control over nature but I am hopeful Maa Durga will ensure that we can celebrate the puja in a grand manner as in pre-pandemic times and there is no ...

CBI raids 3 places in Kolkata in financial embezzlement scam probe

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is conducting raids at three places in Kolkata on Tuesday in connection with its ongoing probe in a financial embezzlement scam.

Mamata asks mayor to rename Kolkata road, park after Pranab Mukherjee

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday directed Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim to rename a road and a park in the city after former president Pranab Mukherjee. Speaking at the inauguration of Chetla Agrani's Durga Puja pandal in south Kolkata, Banerjee remembered Mukherjee. "I will ask Bobby (Firhad Hakim) to name a road, even if small, and a small park in remembrance of Pranab Mukherjee," she said. She also remembered singers Sandhya Mukhopadhyay, Dwijen Mukhopadhyay and Nirmala Mishra, and asked the mayor to rename roads and parks after them. Banerjee said the Durga Puja festival has twin feathers on its crown this year -- Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO and Best Destination for Culture by a global organisation of travel writers. She said that these recognitions will show the path of peace and togetherness to the world. Banerjee said that it would also be the responsibility of community puja organisers to assist the police in crowd management. "As I had told Sujit (Bose),

CPI(M) to hold 'Insaaf' rally in Kolkata to seek justice for Anis Khan

Youth and student wings of CPI(M) will hold 'Insaaf' rally at Esplanade in the heart of Kolkata on Tuesday to seek justice for Anis Khan, a student leader who died mysteriously in February. The Left party's youth wing DYFI and students' body SFI will hold the rally which may cause traffic snarls. The 'Insaaf' (justice) rally will be attended by students, youths and people from various walks of life seeking justice for Anis Khan, a DYFI leader said. While Khan's father Salem has alleged that his son was assaulted and thrown over from the third floor of their house in Amta in Howrah district by people dressed in police and civic volunteer uniforms, the police have denied the allegation and claimed that he had fallen accidentally leading to his death on February 19. The Left parties have held several agitations since then over the incident.

Conversations on consent difficult for young Indians: Tinder survey

More than 65 per cent of those surveyed do not know how to give consent, how to ask for it or how to withdraw it when dating someone.

4 arrested for assaulting Kolkata police, torching vehicle during BJP rally

At least four people were arrested on Wednesday for allegedly assaulting a police officer and setting a police vehicle on fire in Kolkata during the BJP's rally, an official said. The arrests were made during night-long raids in Beliaghata, Topsia and Bowbazar areas, he said. Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Debajit Chattopadhyay was chased and assaulted with sticks by some people in the Bowbazar area during the BJP's 'March to Nabanna' rally on Tuesday. A police vehicle was also torched near the Kolkata Police headquarters Lalbazar. "The raids are still going on," said an officer of Kolkata Police on Wednesday afternoon. The four arrested persons were identified from video clips of the two incidents, he said. They have been booked under sections dealing with attempt to murder, destruction of government property and preventing public servant from performing duty, the officer said. Chattopadhyay suffered multiple fractures and is at present undergoing treatment at a hospita

BJP's march to Bengal secretariat: Party workers torch car, clash with cops

Parts of Kolkata and Howrah district turned into a battlefield on Tuesday as BJP supporters clashed with the police while trying to get past barricades erected to prevent them from marching towards the West Bengal secretariat Nabanna'. A police vehicle was also set on fire during the march organised to protest against the alleged corrupt practices of the Trinamool Congress government. Several police officers and saffron camp members, including leaders Mina Devi Purohit and Swapan Dasgupta, were reportedly injured during the rally. A Kolkata Police officer said, "There was no report of any serious injury to any protestor though several police personnel have suffered injuries". While the BJP alleged that the Mamata Banerjee government does not want to give space to opposition parties, the TMC described the saffron camp workers as hooligans'. Sharing a video of people carrying BJP flags setting ablaze a police vehicle, TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee tweeted, Today,

Kolkata streets turn into war zone as violence shrouds BJP's protest march

Roads around the 19th century iconic Howrah Station resembled a battleground on Tuesday with brickbats aimed at police personnel flying thick and fast, and drenched protesters hit by water cannons limping to the safety of nearby alleyways and shops. BJP agitators brought in by special trains for a protest march to the Bengal secretariat turned violent when they found roads leading to the state's seat of power barricaded by riot police. Dilip Biswas, 34, who had boarded one of the special trains to come to the metropolis from Andal, said, I never realised the protest march would turn into such a fierce combat... The police were relentless, while those in the crowd besides me were equally violent. I don't know who started throwing stones at the police, but after two officers went down like nine pins, they started firing water cannons, burst tear gas shells and lathicharged us. The protesters also hurled glass bottles at police personnel, while some of them were seen lifting tree logs

Rs 17 cr cash, 16 hours, 8 counting machines: Know about ED raid in Kolkata

It took over 16 hours and eight counting machines for the ED officials to count the heap of cash that was recovered from the residence of a businessman in Kolkata

ED raids Kolkata-based gaming app operator, recovers over Rs 17 cr cash

The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday seized Rs 17.32 crore in cash after it raided the promoters of a Kolkata-based mobile gaming app company as part of a money-laundering investigation, official sources said. The agency, the sources said, is looking at some "political links" of the app promoters and wants to ascertain the actual beneficiaries of this cash, even as it is investigating the possible routing of the funds spent by gullible gamers here through some "Chinese-controlled" entities. A photograph released by the federal agency showed multiple bundles of Rs 500 currency notes along with a few in the denomination of Rs 2,000, Rs 200 and Rs 100 stacked on a bed depicting the ED abbreviation. Official sources said the cash was recovered from a premise which has an address mentioned as 'F 7. N A Khan' and is located in the Garden Reach area of Kolkata. The ED was looking for the alleged prime accused in the case identified as Aamir Khan as he was not found at the premises that

ED raids several places in Kolkata, estimated Rs 7 crore recovered

ED teams conducted raids at three separate places in Kolkata and recovered a huge amount of cash from the possession of a city-based businessman

Mindtree planning to set up development centre in Kolkata, says CEO

Mindtree, a Larsen & Toubro Group company, is planning to set up a development centre in Kolkata, which could create employment opportunities for 15,000-20,000 people in the next four-five years, a company official said here on Wednesday. The IT services firm has already onboarded 1,700 people in its existing facility in the West Bengal capital so far, he said. "We have taken up 19 acres of space. Hopefully, things will start. The construction will be done by L&T... the management is committed. We will set up a huge centre," Mindtree Ltd Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Debashis Chatterjee said at ICT East organised by CII. The development centre can create employment opportunities for 15,000-20,000 people, he said. The IT company had in March announced the opening of its first development centre in Kolkata. Another IT company of the L&T group, Larsen and Toubro Infotech (LTI) had in June also announced opening up of a new centre in the eastern ...

CBI carries out search ops at primary education board's office in Kolkata

The CBI on Friday conducted search operations at the office of West Bengal Board of Primary Education as a part of their ongoing investigation into the alleged irregularities in teacher recruitment in state government-sponsored and aided schools, an agency official said. Sleuths of the agency, along with a data expert, raided the board's office here during the day and seized several documents, the official maintained. Earlier in the day, a division bench of the Calcutta High Court upheld an order of its single bench that directed the CBI to investigate the alleged irregularities in appointment of primary teachers in government-sponsored and -aided schools. The seized documents may be of relevance in the probe, the official added. WBBPE's former president Manik Bhattacharya, who is also an MLA of the ruling Trinamool Congress, is also under the scanner of the central agency.

I-T dept detects Rs 250 cr 'black' income after Kolkata business group raid

The Income-tax department has detected "unaccounted" income of more than Rs 250 crore after it recently raided a Kolkata-based group engaged in manufacturing of power transmission and distribution equipments apart from few other businesses, the CBDT said Thursday. The searches were launched on August 24 and 28 on the premises of the group, which is also involved in manufacturing of steel pipes and polymer products, in West Bengal and Jharkhand. "Evidence of use of unaccounted cash for acquisition of immovable property and unaccounted cash loan, etc. has also been found and a preliminary analysis of seized evidence reveals that several shell (bogus) companies have been utilised by the group to provide accommodation (hawala) entries to its flagship concerns," the Board said in a statement. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) frames policy for the tax department. The shell entities have been found to have routed back the unaccounted money in the guise of share capital or unsecure

NCRB reports say Kolkata safest city; experts allege suppression of facts

Kolkata has topped the list of cities with the least number of cognisable offences per lakh of its population, making the metropolis the safest city of India in 2021, according to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report. The city scored 103.4 per 1-lakh people in terms of the number of cognisable offences, marching ahead of Pune, which stood second (256.8) and Hyderabad (259.9), the data showed. Kanpur (336.5), Bengaluru (427.2) and Mumbai (428.4) were among the other cities in the list. Kolkata had scored 129.5 in the 2020 report of NCRB. Its IPC crime rate declined to 92.6 in 2021 compared with 109.9 the previous year, as per the report. Experts, however, expressed apprehension over Kolkata's dwindling crime numbers in the report. "This data seems to be quite absurd. There is clearly suppression of facts on the part of the state government," claimed Ruby Sain, former head of the department of sociology and coordinator of the Centre for the Study of Religion and ..

Zomato launches 'intercity legends', now order from anywhere in India

Order popular, authentic dishes from anywhere and have them delivered to your doorstep

Delhi-bound Air India flight from Sydney makes emergency landing in Kolkata

A Delhi-bound Air India flight from Sydney made an emergency landing in Kolkata on Wednesday after a 50-year-old passenger complained of breathlessness, airport officials said. The flight with 159 passengers aboard was at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport for two hours from 4.50 PM till 6.50 PM before leaving for the national capital. The flyer was admitted to a hospital in Kolkata, they added.

More officers to join ED team in Kolkata by August end to ease pressure

In an effort to handle increasing pressure of investigation related to financial embezzlements in West Bengal, as many as 80 additional officers will join the Enforcement Directorate's Kolkata team

Ex-BJP MP Subramanian Swamy meets Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata

Former BJP MP Subramanian Swamy on Thursday paid a visit to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the state secretariat here and they held a meeting for almost half an hour, a source in the administration said. The source described the visit of Swamy, a staunch critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as a courtesy call. Swamy later tweeted: Today I was in Kolkata and met the charismatic Mamata Banerjee. She is a courageous person. I admired her fight against the CPM in which she decimated the Communists. He also shared a photograph of him with Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress supremo. Following their meeting, speculation is rife about his political move. Swamy had called on Banerjee in November last year also in New Delhi.

India at 75: How did India adopt the Tricolour as its national flag?

Tricolour has evolved over several decades. The Indian flag is said to have been designed for the first time by Sister Nivedita; however, its present form was designed by Pingali Venkayya