West Bengal

Kolkata, Sep 24 (PTI) Facing flak from BJP for alleged minority appeasement, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday doubled the annual financial assistance to Durga Puja organisers across the state to Rs 50,000.

She also announced a 50 per cent waiver in charges for consumption of electricity by the Puja committees in the state, who consume substantial power for the grand illumination during the five-day festival.

Kolkata (WB), Sep 23 (PTI) Four BJP leaders from West Bengal's Kharagpur, along with hundreds of their supporters, joined the Trinamool Congress on Wednesday, giving the ruling party in the state a fillip in the industrial region ahead of the assembly elections due in April-May next year.

BJP leaders Sailendra Singh, Ajoy Chatterjee, Rajdip Guha and Sajal Roy joined the TMC in the presence of Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Chandrima Bhattacharya, at the party's headquarters here.

Kolkata, Sep 22 (PTI) Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Tuesday arrived in Kolkata on a two-day visit to look into the organisational aspects of the RSS in West Bengal, where it has made deep inroads in the last few years.

A senior RSS official said that Bhagwat will hold closed-door meetings with functionaries of the organisation.

Kolkata, Sep 16 (PTI) A host of leaders, including health activist Rezaul Karim, joined the Trinamool Congress on Wednesday from other political parties.

Karim, a former Congress Doctors' Cell chief and CPI (M)'s Birbhum candidate in last year's Lok Sabha election, was welcomed to the party by its secretary-general Partha Chatterjee.

Kolkata, Sep 15 (PTI) The BJP women's wing announced on Tuesday that it will give self-defence training to the women of West Bengal, workshops for which will start on September 17, the birthday of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Fifty women from each of the 23 districts of the state will be taught basic self-defence skills by trained experts in the workshops named 'Uma', BJP Mohila Morcha president Agnimitra Paul told PTI.

Kolkata, Sept 14 (PTI) Reacting to the arrest of JNU alumnus and rights activist Umar Khalid in connection with the Delhi riots, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said that action should be taken if there is evidence of wrongdoing.

Apparently hitting out at the BJP-led government at the Centre, Banerjee, who has been one of its most stringent critics, said those involved in "movements (against NPR, NRC) have been targeted (by the ruling party)".

Kolkata, Sept 14 (PTI) A 40-year-old Trinamool Congress worker was found dead in West Bengal's Malda district, police said on Monday.

The deceased was identified as Subodh Pramanik, a wood trader. He was a resident of Habibpur village in the district, they said.

Pramanik's body was found near his agricultural land where he had gone on Sunday evening, police said.

Police have launched a probe into the matter as the TMC held the local BJP responsible for the killing.

Kolkata, Sep 14 (PTI) Metro rail services in Kolkata resumed on Monday after a gap of more than five months, a senior official said.

The regular services were suspended on March 23 due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Special trains, however, were run for NEET aspirants and their guardians on Sunday.

"Services have resumed at 8 am and around 3,000 people have commuted in the first two hours," Kolkata Metro Railway General Manager Manoj Joshi told PTI.

Kolkata, Sep 11 (PTI) West Bengal correctional services department has begun the official procedure to send back around 650 Bangladeshi prisoners who have completed their terms and are lodged in various prisons.

This is among the several measures taken by the department to prevent crowding in jails in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The process to send back the Bangladeshi prisoners, who had completed their tenures to their country has started.

Kolkata, Sep 9 (PTI) A man allegedly involved in molesting and throwing out a woman from his car besides knocking down another lady has been arrested from Dumdum area near the city, police said.

A senior police officer said, the accused Abhishek Pandey who had allegedly molested the 31-year old woman in his car on Saturday night was arrested from a guest house in Dumdum area, in the northern outskirts of city, on Tuesday night.