Page 12 - West Bengal

TMC's Kalyan Banerjee quits as LS chief whip amid row with Mahua Moitra

Senior Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee on Monday resigned as the party's chief whip in the Lok Sabha alleging that he was being blamed unfairly for lack of coordination among MPs even as some barely attend Parliament. The move came hours after a virtual meeting of TMC MPs chaired by party supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, where she reportedly expressed her displeasure over poor coordination in the party's parliamentary wing. "I have quit as the party's chief whip in Lok Sabha as 'Didi' (Mamata Banerjee) said during the virtual meeting that there is a lack of coordination among party MPs. So the blame is on me. Hence, I have decided to step down," Banerjee told a news channel. The four-time MP from Sreerampur, who is also a senior advocate, said he felt humiliated that the party was not holding those responsible for indiscipline and poor attendance to account, but instead making him the fall guy. "Those whom Mamata Banerjee made MPs don't even come to Lok

ZEE5 Bangla bets on affordable prices to lure viewers, says official

ZEE5 aims to make content both affordable and relatable for Bengali audiencesparticularly in tier two and three citiesby aligning pricing and storytelling with local needs and cultural sensibilities, says Rusa Banerjee, Business Head of the streamer's Bangla arm. The OTT platform is trying to keep pace with changing audience preferences by innovating with different genres and storytelling formats to stay relevant and engaging, Banerjee added. "Storytelling in Bengali is evolving fast and so are we. We are actively experimenting across formats, genres, and narrative styles to stay in step with what audiences want today. "We wish to give audiences, hooked to Bengali contents, a platform that reflects their stories, in their language, at a price that respects their wallet and enables them to pay only for what they want to watch," Banerjee told PTI in an interview. On the programming level, she said the platform is deliberately mixing thrillers, dramas, and cultural themes to broaden a

Direct insult to language in which National Anthem was written: MK Stalin

Stalin said that statements like these were not "inadvertent errors" but exposed the dark mindset of a regime that undermines diversity

One year on, RG Kar victim's parents still await justice in rape case

Nearly a year after a young woman doctor was raped and murdered inside a locked seminar room at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College, her grieving parents, whose wounds have only deepened with time, await justice. Her father said that their only hope is in the judiciary now. "We have lost all faith in the police and the CBI. For reasons best known to them, the CBI appears compromised, either politically or otherwise. They are just parroting what the Kolkata Police had said," her father told PTI. On August 9 last year, the 26-year-old postgraduate trainee's body was discovered inside the Chest Medicine Department's seminar hall on the fourth floor of the hospital's emergency building. The nature of her injuries, which indicated brutality, and the fact that it happened within a state-run hospital, sent shock waves across West Bengal and beyond. Widespread protests erupted across campuses, drawing students, doctors, and civil society to the streets. But a year later, the family says, just

Centre owes ₹3,000 crore MGNREGA dues to Bengal: Govt in Rajya Sabha

The Centre owes West Bengal over Rs 3,000 crore, the highest among states, under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), the government informed the Rajya Sabha on Friday, claiming that the funds transfer was stopped due to non-compliance of its directives. Pending liabilities in case of West Bengal include wage, material and admin component, and release of funds to the state has been stopped since March 9, 2022, as per provisions of Section 27 of MGNREGA, 2005, due to non-compliance with directives of the central government, MoS Rural Development Kamlesh Paswan said. Among other states and Union Territories mentioned in the reply, the highest pending wage liability is for Andhra Pradesh, to which the Centre owes Rs 1,684.39 crore, while it owes Bihar Rs 893.57 crore in wage payments, Rs 694.76 to Uttar Pradesh, and Rs 456.31 crore for Telangana. In a written reply to a question by TMC's Prakash Chik Barik, who asked about the pending dues under the ...

Not only Bengalis, Every Indian has right to travel freely: Amartya Sen

Wading into the political slugfest over the alleged harassment of Bengali migrant workers in other parts of the country, noted economist Amartya Sen said every citizen of India has the freedom to go wherever they want, and any effort to curb that must be objected to. Speaking to reporters at his ancestral home in Santiniketan, Sen said it doesn't matter whether a person is a Bengali, Punjabi or a Marwari, the freedom to go wherever he wants and speak whichever language he wants is his constitutional right. "An Indian citizen has the right of movement in the entire country. There is no mention of territorial rights anywhere in our Constitution," he said. "Every citizen of India has the right to be happy. We have to respect everyone...," he said on Thursday, responding to a question from reporters on the issue that has rocked the state. Sen said if Bengalis are being tortured and neglected, it must be objected to. "It is not a question of Bengal alone, but the whole country," he ...

CM Mamata hikes Durga Puja grant to ₹1.1 lakh, waives taxes for committees

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee hiked the Durga Puja grant to Rs 1.10 lakh for 40,000 committees, waived taxes, announced an 80 per cent electricity concession, drawing cheers from organisers and criticism from the opposition ahead of the 2026 assembly polls. Addressing a mega coordination meeting of Puja committees at the Netaji Indoor Stadium here, Banerjee said the enhanced financial assistance, up from Rs 85,000 last year, was a recognition of Durga Puja's cultural significance and its status as a UNESCO-recognised intangible heritage. Durga Puja is not just a religious celebration. It is the lifeline of Bengal's cultural identity, our praner utsab' (festival of the heart). We are proud that UNESCO has recognised this. It's our collective responsibility to preserve that glory, Banerjee told a packed audience of organisers and top bureaucrats. Along with the increased grant, Banerjee announced an 80 per cent concession on electricity bills for Puja pandals, a waiver of

WB govt drafts rules on women's safety ahead of RG Kar case 1st anniversary

In a bid to enhance the security of working women, especially those on night shifts, the West Bengal government has drafted a set of new rules, including the setting up of a mandatory complaint committee in an organisation and installation of CCTV cameras at workplaces, an official said on Thursday. According to the proposed rules, night shifts would not be mandatory for female employees of an entity, and an organisation has to ensure the safety of women even during their travel to and from its offices at night. The draft rules were introduced ahead of the completion of one year of the rape and murder of an on-duty doctor at the state-run RG Kar hospital. "Altogether 22 issues have been identified in the draft rules. It has been stated that the night shift will be from 8 pm to 6 am, and at least 10 women, or one-third of the total shift workforce, whichever is higher, must be present together," the official told PTI. It also proposed to make provisions for resting areas and canteen

Congress stages protest demanding SIR not be conducted in West Bengal

Congress workers on Sunday staged a protest here demanding that a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal not be conducted. An SIR is being conducted in neighbouring Bihar, where assembly elections are due later this year. Assembly polls are likely to be held in West Bengal in mid-2026. "The main issue is illegal immigration from Bangladesh," Congress leader Asutosh Chatterjee, who participated in the demonstration in south Kolkata's Bhawanipur area, said. He demanded that immediate steps be taken to fence every inch of the international border between India and Bangladesh in West Bengal. "Our national leadership has opposed the SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar, and we also oppose any plan to hold the same in West Bengal," he told reporters. The Congress workers raised slogans against the SIR. Chatterjee alleged that the Election Commission was working at the behest of the BJP. The Congress leader also questioned how Leader of Opposition in West Bengal

Govt helpline, task forces: Bengal steps up migrant distress response

With reports of Bengali-speaking migrant workers allegedly being detained and harassed in several Indian states triggering outrage, the West Bengal government and the ruling TMC have launched a multi-layered initiative to tackle the crisis with a blend of administrative urgency and political outreach. In what officials and TMC leaders call a "coordinated and calibrated" approach, the government has rolled out a WhatsApp-only helpline, reactivated district-level migrant welfare cells, and empowered grassroots-level TMC task forces across migration-prone districts to serve as first responders and grievance redressal units. "The approach is two-pronged. On one hand, the government has launched helplines and activated its administrative machinery to contact officials in other states, while on the other, the party has established multi-layered coordination teams, ranging from the grassroots to the district levels. Our workers are constantly in touch with families of migrants, especially i

Sotefin Bharat plans ₹80 cr IPO to build parking robot unit in West Bengal

Swiss automated parking solutions major Sotefin SA's Indian subsidiary, Sotefin Bharat, on Sunday said it will hit the capital market to raise Rs 80 crore to support indigenous manufacturing of robots for automated parking systems in West Bengal. The entire issue will be a fresh equity offer, with no stake dilution by the promoters or existing PE funds, a top company official said. "We are in the process of launching an IPO, which will help us become Atmanirbhar in the production of robots used in automated parking systems. The robot manufacturing facility will require around Rs 40 crore, while the remaining Rs 40 crore will be largely used for debt reduction and enhancing working capital to undertake larger projects," Sotefin Bharat Managing Director & CEO Arup Choudhuri told PTI. The company has announced a new manufacturing facility at Bagnan in West Bengal's Howrah district, entailing an investment of approximately Rs 40 crore. Once fully operational with in-house robotic ...

Suvendu Adhikari claims 1.25 cr illegal voters in Bengal, TMC dares proof

Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday claimed that there are 1.25 crore illegal immigrants in the voters' list of West Bengal, and all of them will be sent back following a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the rolls. Addressing a programme in Tamluk in Purba Medinipur district, Adhikari maintained that Hindus who migrated due to religious persecution need not be worried about the exercise. "If around 50 lakh names were excluded in Bihar, Bengal could have as many as 1.25 crore such names. All Bangladeshis and Rohingyas in West Bengal will be pushed back after the SIR," he said. "No one will be able to save the chief minister this time. All the looting and corruption will come to an end. The instances of false voting will reduce. Those who used to cast false votes will be weeded out," he added. Adhikari "warned" government officers to act with integrity, and said district-level officers who fail to do so will be in trouble. The ruling TMC rejected his comments as ...

EC will decide SIR of electoral rolls in Bengal: WB chief electoral officer

Stating that the decision to conduct a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls lies solely with the Election Commission, West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal on Friday said training of booth-level officers (BLOs) and supervisors will ensure preparedness if the process is initiated. He said training of the BLOs was an ongoing process, and a similar session would be held in Kolkata on Saturday and in the other districts in the following days. "The EC has decided to train the officers. Earlier, there was no such training. The poll panel has an institute, IIIDEM, where people have been trained to make them understand the work, their statutory functions," Agarwal said. According to sources, the CEO held a virtual conference with the BLOs on Friday. The IAS officer said the training would help if the SIR of electoral rolls was initiated in Bengal. "If SIR takes place, the training will equip BLOs to carry out their responsibilities effectively. However

Centre calls death penalty clause in Aparajita Bill 'excessively harsh'

The Bill proposes enhancement of punishment for rape from the existing minimum of 10 years under the BNS to life imprisonment for the remainder of one's life or death

West Bengal Police starts helpline for migrant workers in other states

The West Bengal Police on Friday launched a WhatsApp helpline, 9147727666, to provide assistance to migrant workers facing problems in other states. The helpline was launched after several complaints were received that people from the state were encountering a range of problems, from workplace exploitation to unsafe living conditions, while working in other states, a police officer said. "In many cases, the victims or their families do not know where or how to report such incidents. To bridge this gap, the state police are urging affected individuals or their family members to promptly inform their local police station or district control room," he said. "The WhatsApp-only helpline is also launched for the purpose, so that families can send messages detailing the nature of the problems, along with the victim's name and address," he said. The officer said all messages will be verified, and we will coordinate with the state authorities concerned to take necessary action. This initia

Kolkata law college gangrape: Police conduct gait analysis on four accused

Police have conducted gait recognition analysis on the four accused persons arrested in the Kasba gangrape case involving a student inside the South Calcutta Law College premises, a senior officer said on Thursday. The analysis was initiated on Wednesday inside the correctional home where the four Monojit Mishra, Pramit Mukherjee, Zaib Ahmed and security guard Pinaki Banerjee are lodged. A local court had granted permission for the exercise on Tuesday. "The test is basically observing and analysing their walking pattern. The findings will be compared with CCTV footage and other video evidence recovered from the college premises on that day. This is to prove their presence at the spot when the crime took place," the officer explained. Investigators also received the forensic analysis reports of the mobile phones seized from the accused, he added. "The reports could play a crucial role in our investigation as these devices were allegedly used to record the crime that took place .

Staffers at border seek Bengal CM intervention to lift ban on jute imports

An organisation of clearing agents' staffers at Petrapole border checkpost has written a letter to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, seeking her intervention to lift the Centre's ban on imports of jute products and garments from Bangladesh via land routes. The Petrapole Clearing Agents' Staff Welfare Association claimed that the trade flow at the border checkpost in North 24 Parganas district has been affected due to the restriction. It highlighted how the ban has disrupted trade flows and impacted the livelihoods of thousands who depend on the transactions via the critical India-Bangladesh integrated checkpost. "Import trade volumes have plummeted sharply after the restrictions were imposed. The number of import trucks and rakes handled at Petrapole fell to 1,654 in June, down from 3,886 in May 2025," association secretary Kartick Chakraborty told PTI. Unlike the current trends, the peak monthly figure was 4,900 in 2023, while average volumes typically remain above 3,500

Will send BJP to detention camps post 2026 assembly polls: TMC's Abhishek

TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee on Sunday tore into the BJP, branding it a 'Bangla-Birodhi' party, alleging that it wants to send Bengalis to detention camps. He also claimed that after the 2026 Bengal Assembly polls, it is the BJP that will be electorally "sent to detention camps and wiped out" from the state. The BJP wants to take Bengalis to detention camps. I want to tell them clearly after the 2026 elections, it is you whom we will send to the detention camps, the TMC national general secretary said, addressing TMC's Martyrs' Day rally. Claiming that the BJP is a Bangla-Birodhi party (anti-Bengal party), Banerjee alleged that it has consistently targeted Bengalis for speaking their mother tongue. Just because we speak Bengali, we are being targeted. Why doesn't the BJP take action against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for his continuous attacks on the Bengali language? It shows their true colours, he asked. Banerjee said that if required, TMC MPs would speak in Benga

PM accuses TMC of shielding culprits of RG Kar doctor rape-murder case

PM Narendra Modi said in his Durgapur speech that the 'daughters in West Bengal' are facing injustice under the rule of the TMC government

PM to visit Bengal amid migrant row, launch ₹5K cr projects, address rally

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit West Bengal on Friday afternoon to address a BJP rally in Durgapur and unveil infrastructure projects worth Rs 5,000 crore. The visit comes in a politically charged backdrop marked by TMC's outcry over alleged harassment of Bengali-speaking migrants in several BJP-ruled states. This will be Modi's first visit to the state after Samik Bhattacharya was appointed the new Bengal BJP president earlier this month. "West Bengal is suffering due to TMC misrule. People are seeing the BJP with hope and are convinced that only the BJP can deliver on development. Tomorrow, 18th July, will be addressing a @BJP4Bengal rally in Durgapur. Do join!" the PM posted on X on Thursday night. With West Bengal slated to go to the polls next year, the PM's visit is being seen as a high-voltage political manoeuvre by the BJP to consolidate its position in the state. It comes just days before Trinamool Congress supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's annual Marty