West Bengal

Kolkata, Aug 30 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday accused the BJP-led government at the Centre of colluding with Left parties and said the country should move on its inbuilt principle of inclusiveness and not on the path of Duryodhana and Dushashana.

Maintaining that no one is above the law and a criminal should be punished, Banerjee wondered why the CBI is yet to summon a single CPI(M) leader in corruption or chit fund cases.

Kolkata, Aug 30 (PTI) The West Bengal assembly Friday passed a bill to check incidents of mob assaults and lynching and criminalised such actions.

The West Bengal (Prevention of Lynching) Bill, 2019 was tabled in the House on Friday and supported by the opposition Congress and CPI(M).

The BJP, which has emerged as the main opposition party, neither supported nor opposed the bill as it felt that the legislation may be used for settling political scores.

Kolkata, August 28; GANASHAKTI:  Aghast at the current hegemonic politics of “divisiveness’ in the country, Nobel Laureate Prof Amartya Sen  has opined that  “Democracy is not a Majoratarian Exercize”. Winning one election do not guarantee  that you can bulldoz all the  pluralism  of society, he opined, and also added that being divided is not a problem, rather “divisiveness” being spread now, is the problem.

Kolkata, Aug 28 (PTI) In a veiled attack on the BJP, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said attempts are on to change the history of the country and its democracy is under threat.

Because of its narrow political considerations, a particular party has destroyed the unity of the country, she said at the Assembly where a resolution was moved remembering martyrs of Jallianwala Bagh Massacre on its centenary year.

Kolkata, Aug 28 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday accused the BJP-led central government of using brute force to scuffle the voices of dissent in the Kashmir Valley.

Banerjee also said that important institutions of the country are being headed by retired bureaucrats, who are acting as "yes men" of the government.

Hooghly (WB), Aug 27 (PTI) A security guard of a private school in Hooghly district was arrested on Tuesday on the charge of molesting a minor girl student, following demonstration by angry guardians in front of the school.

The security guard allegedly molested the 11-year-old girl inside the premises of the school in Serampur area last week and the student told her parents about the incident, police said.

Kolkata, Aug 27 (PTI) The Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal is planning to introduce a stringent Bill in the Legislative Assembly to check incidents of mob assault and lynching in the state, sources said on Tuesday.

The West Bengal (Prevention of Lynching) Bill, 2019 is likely to be tabled in the House on August 30, they said.

"The bill aims to protect the constitutional rights of vulnerable persons and prevent incidents of lynching. It also proposes action against those involved in perpetrating the crime," a senior TMC minister said.

Kolkata, Aug 24 (PTI) Defence production at 41 facilities across the country is likely to normalise from Monday, with the unions representing civilian employees of Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) on Saturday calling off their ongoing one-month strike over the Centre's corporatisation plans.

Kolkata, Aug 22 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday termed as "very depressing" the way Congress leader and former union minister P Chidambaram was arrested and alleged that the judiciary was not coming to the help of a "crying" democratic system.

In her first reaction after Chidambaram's arrest by CBI in INX media case on Wednesday evening, Banerjee quoted Rabindranath Tagore and said the "message of justice is crying silently in isolation".

Kolkata, Aug 18 (PTI) State Bank of India (SBI) Chairman Rajnish Kumar on Sunday said credit demand remains subdued and there is a need for stimulus in the economy.

Though lack of credit demand exists in the economy, there is no supply-side constraint as the public sector banks are more or less well-capitalised, he said.

"Demand for credit in the economy is subdued. There is a need for stimulus in the economy", Kumar told reporters here.