Page 72 - West Bengal

Sebi to auction properties of 5 cos on Jan 22 to recover investors money

Capital markets regulator Sebi has said it will auction 13 properties of five companies, including Sunheaven Agro India and RaviKiran Realty India, along with that of promoters and directors on January 22 to recover money illegally collected from investors. The other firms whose properties will be auctioned are Just-Reliable Projects India Ltd, Orion Industries, and Rakhal Bharoti group of companies. The properties will be auctioned at a reserve price of Rs 15.08 crore, according to a public notice issued by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Monday said. These assets include land parcels in West Bengal and Jharkhand. Further, Quikr Realty has been engaged by Sebi to assist in the sale of these properties. Of the 13 properties, seven are related to Rakhal Bharoti group of companies, two each of Orion Industries Ltd and Just-Reliable Projects India and one each of Sunheaven Agro India, and Ravikiran Realty. Inviting bids for the sale of the properties in the reco

Bengal keeps e-way bill orders in abeyance, intrastate limit at Rs 1 lakh

The West Bengal government has kept in abeyance the order that reduced the "intrastate e-way bill" threshold limit from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 50,000, effective from December 1, a top official said on Thursday. It was done "in the public interest" after representations from stakeholders highlighting some issues related to e-waybills, state GST Commissioner Khalid Anwar said. The mid-November notification that lowered the threshold has been "put in abeyance till further notice with retrospective effect," Anwar told PTI. "Therefore, the limit for intra-state movement remains at Rs 1 lakh With the earlier notification being kept in abeyance, no e-waybill requirement will be there for job work within the state," he said. The move to cut the intrastate e-way bill threshold from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 50,000 was intended to align it with the national standard and prevent GST slippage. The state government had also aimed to achieve parity with the rest of the country (where the threshold for interstat

Bengal to continue Covid surveillance activity, no cases so far: Official

The West Bengal Health Department will continue its surveillance of influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) cases, in accordance with central guidelines, amid an uptick in COVID-19 cases in the country, a senior official said on Wednesday. Representatives of the department participated in a high-level review meeting with states chaired by Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya earlier in the day. "We will continue our surveillance activity as per the guidelines of the health ministry. At present, there is not a single COVID-19 case in our state. However, we are ready with the infrastructure," the official told PTI. In the meeting, Mandaviya reiterated that Covid was not over yet and urged the states to monitor emerging cases, symptoms and case severity to plan appropriate public health response. Mandaviya asked all the states to remain alert, increase surveillance and ensure adequate stock of medicines, oxygen cylinders and concentrators, ...

Mamata Banerjee meets PM Modi over pending central funds for West Bengal

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss pending central funds for the state. She said the prime minister proposed that officials from the state and Centre can sit together and clear the issues. Speaking to the media after the meeting in the Parliament complex along with nine party MPs, Banerjee said 155 central teams have already visited West Bengal. Talking about the pending MGNREGA funds for the state, she said it is mandatory under the Constitution to pay the workers. "We didn't even get a penny for 100 days of work (under MGNREGA) in the budget for 2022-23. Funds for (Pradhan Mantri) Aawas Yojna have been stopped, rural development schemes have been shut, and the health mission programme has also been shut. We are also not getting funds under the Finance Commission," said Banerjee. "Our officials have given all the clarification they asked for. PM has said a joint meeting will be held by the Centre and state officials

Margins of North Indian tea gardens to shrink in FY24, predicts ICRA

Leading credit rating firm ICRA said that tea gardens of North India will suffer from shrinkage in the margins due to rise in input costs and wage hike in West Bengal and Assam during the current fiscal. Margins will also be affected due to low export demand and sluggish rural consumption, ICRA said adding that the outlook for the sector has been revised to negative from stable. The credit rating firm said that all-India auction prices of the orthodox variety in the first 10 months of calendar year 2023 witnessed a significant decline of around Rs 51 per kilogram on a year-on-year basis. The price drop in South India was lower at Rs seven per kilogram during the same period. ICRA said that the slump in orthodox tea realisation was due to lower export demand, primarily from Iran. Similarly, the all-India cumulative auction average of CTC variety also witnessed a decline during the first 10 months of 2023 to the extent of Rs six per kilogram. ICRA said that sluggish rural demand alo

JSL gets board approval to acquire Rabirun Vinimay for Rs 96 crore

Jindal Stainless Limited (JSL) on Tuesday said its board of directors has approved the acquisition of Rabirun Vinimay Private Ltd which is under liquidation. The cost of the acquisition is Rs 96 crore, JSL said in a regulatory filing. "The Board of Directors accorded its consent for acquisition of 100 per cent stake in Rabirun Vinimay Private Limited (RVPL), a company under liquidation, on a going concern basis, in terms of the applicable provisions of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016," it said. JSL said RVPL has potential downstream cold-rolling manufacturing capacity of 250 KTPA (kilo tonne per annum) for wider and thinner segment besides having a capacity of 50 KTPA for pipe and tube segment. Its plant is located at Vidyasagar Industrial Park, Kharagpur, West Bengal over 60 acres of land area. The plant is currently shut down. "The proposed acquisition would complement the management's objective of increasing the cold-rolling capabilities of going thinner with wider width to

Adhikari says Lalit Jha involved with TMC youth wing, ruling party denies

Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday alleged that Lalit Jha, the alleged mastermind in the Parliament security breach case, was associated with the youth wing of the Trinamool Congress. The TMC, however, dismissed the allegation. In a major security breach on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack on Wednesday, two men jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour, released yellow-coloured smoke from canisters and raised slogans, before being overpowered by the MPs. "Lalit Jha is rank and file of Trinamool Yuva," Adhikari, the BJP MLA from Nandigram, told reporters at Bagdogra airport. Adhikari claimed that Jha's photos with various TMC leaders, including MLA and councillors and TMC Yuva leaders in the state, have come to the fore. "He is a known face of Trinamool Congress youth wing," he alleged. Jha and his family members, who hail from Bihar's Darbhanga, have been living in Kolkata for some decades

Security arrangements in West Bengal assembly to be beefed up: Speaker

"Police will question if a visitor is found overstaying inside the assembly premises," he said

CBI carries out searches at 10 locations in WB in ECL coal pilferage case

The CBI on Thursday conducted searches at 10 locations in West Bengal in connection with an alleged multi-crore coal pilferage scam in the Eastern Coalfields Ltd mines in the state's Kunustoria and Kajora areas, officials said. The searches are taking place at multiple locations in Kolkata and other cities as part of further investigation into the case, they said. The agency had charge-sheeted alleged mastermind Anup Manjhi alias Lala along with 40 others in July last year in connection with the case. The CBI registered an FIR in November 2020 against Manjhi, ECL general managers Amit Kumar Dhar and Jayesh Chandra Rai, ECL security chief Tanmay Das, Kunustoria area security inspector Dhananjay Rai and Kajor area security in-charge Debashish Mukherjee. "They (accused) fraudulently misappropriated coal from the coal reserve of leasehold areas under the dominion of ECL and also from the coal stock parked in the railway sidings for sale and supply," a CBI spokesperson had said on July

Bengal's Malda district, known for its mangoes, grows oranges in a first

A farmer in West Bengal's Malda district, which is known for its mangoes, has set a record this year by growing oranges. Dipak Rajbanshi has grown around 1.5 quintal of orange in his garden. He claimed that the oranges that he grew were tastier than the ones grown in Maharashtra's Nagpur. He said these oranges are smaller than the Darjeeling variety, and he is still researching whether bigger oranges can be grown on Malda's soil, and only then, he will make efforts for commercial production. "I have sold some of the oranges to fruit sellers at Rs 30-35 per kg," said Rajbanshi, a resident of Goalpara in Old Malda. He said he bought around 10 orange plants from a nursery in Nadia district's Ranaghat four years back. "One of the plants died, but the others grew. The height of the plants at present is around 7 feet. This year, first the flowers started appearing on the trees, and then came the fruits. The oranges began to ripen around mid-November. About 20-25 kg of oranges have grow

NGO founder says Parliament security breach accused kept his details shady

In a telephonic conversation with ANI, Nilaksha Aich who runs an NGO working on tribal education in West Bengal's Purulia district said that accused Lalit Jha was a member of that organisation

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IMD issues fog alert for five states including MP, Bengal for next two days

Dense fog during the morning hours is very likely in isolated pockets over north Madhya Pradesh, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam and Meghalaya on December 10 and 11

Requested time to meet PM: Bengal CM Mamata on stoppage of MGNREGA funds

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged that money has not been transferred from the central government for the work that has already been done under the MGNREGA programme

Bengal CM Banerjee seeks audience with PM to press for state's dues

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday said she has sought an audience with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to press the demands for the financial dues which the Centre owes to the state. Banerjee told reporters at the Bagdogra airport near Siliguri in north Bengal that she will be visiting the national capital and sought an appointment in any of the three days between December 18 and 20. "I will go to Delhi accompanied by few MPs of the party this month and have sought an audience with the Prime Minister to press for the state's dues which the Centre owes to us," she said. "I have sought an appointment with the Prime Minister in any of the days on 18, 19 and 20th of this month," she added. Banerjee said that the Centre is collecting GST from the state but not sharing the proceeds. "Many of the funds which the state is eligible for getting under various central schemes like MGNREGA are also not forthcoming. The state is being deprived of its financial dues from the ...

Amit Shah to chair 26th meeting of Eastern Zonal Council in Bihar on Sunday

The meeting is being organized by the Inter-State Council Secretariat under the MHA in collaboration with the government of Bihar

Nine newborns die in West Bengal's Murshidabad Medical College in 24 hours

Nine newborns and a two-year-old child died in West Bengal's Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital in a span of 24 hours till Wednesday midnight, a senior official said on Friday. Out of the 10 babies, three were born in the hospital and seven were brought there from other medical facilities for treatment, he said. He said of the nine newborns who died, two were suffering from congenital heart diseases, one had congenital neurological problem, two were suffering from septicemia, three had low birth weight and one had congenital problem along with low birth weight. One child was 26 months' old and was suffering from congenital ailments, said an official of the government hospital, located around 200km from Kolkata.

TMC leader Mahua Moitra expelled from Lok Sabha

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra was on Friday expelled from the Lok Sabha on the recommendation of the Ethics Panel in the "cash-for-query" case. Watch the video to know what Moitra said on her exp

Rs 24,000 cr investments at Bengal biz meet to be implemented over 2 yrs

The North Bengal business meet has elicited investments worth Rs 24,000 crore which would be implemented in a span of one to two years, an official of the West Bengal government said on Thursday. Chief secretary of the West Bengal government H K Dwivedi said that the investment proposals have been received from various sectors. Business organisations and trade bodies of eight districts in the northern part of West Bengal have participated in the business meet held here on Thursday, he said. Dwivedi said the state government has been very proactive in encouraging investors to make investments in West Bengal and has been extending support for the same. He said that after the present government came into power in the state, there have been notable industrial investments in North Bengal. Discussions on the overall development of the infrastructure of North Bengal also took place at the business meet, he added.

West Bengal clears bill to impose 28% GST on online gaming, horse racing

The West Bengal assembly on Thursday passed a bill by virtue of which online gaming, horse racing and casinos will be taxed at the highest GST rate of 28 per cent on full face value of the bets involved. Minister of State for Finance Chandrima Bhattacharya said when the West Bengal Goods and Services Tax (Second Amendment) Bill, 2023, will become an Act, it will augment the revenue of the state. West Bengal is one of the states which has advocated taxation of such online gaming and similar activities at the highest rate, she said. Bhattacharya said activities like online gaming, casinos and horse racing are all games of chance and not those of skill, and in these cases, the right to participate and the right to win cannot be separated. The minister, who is a member of the GST Council, said West Bengal has been in favour of taxing such activities at the highest rates. She also alleged that there had been a delay in tabling this Bill in the assembly as the governor was seeking numer