News Analysis India

Tag: Bengal government

  • Pegasus snooping row: Bengal assures SC that Lokur panel will not proceed for time being

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: The West Bengal government on Wednesday assured the Supreme Court that a two-member Inquiry Commission headed by a former top court judge, Justice Madan B Lokur to investigate into allegation relating to Pegasus Spyware snooping case, will not go ahead with the inquiry till the court hears the bunch of pleas on the issue.

    A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana tagged the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the Commission of Inquiry by the West Bengal government with other pleas pending before the top court on Pegasus controversy and said that it will be taken up together next week.

    “Please maintain restraint as we are already hearing the Pegasus matter”, the Bench told Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi appearing for the West Bengal government.

    The top court said, “Aspresent issue is connected to other issues, in all fairness we expect you can wait. We will hear about the matter sometime next week. Those matters (pleas seeking inquiry on alleged used of Pegasus spyware by the government) are likely to have pan India impact…”

    The Bench said that next week it would pass a comprehensive order, in the meantime, if the state government started an inquiry, then it would have to pass an order.

    Singhvi said that he will convey it to the government and Commission and nothing would happen in one week or two weeks.

    “Nothing will happen in the meantime. Please don’t make an observation, that is all,” Singhvi said.

    Senior advocate Harish Salve appearing for petitioner NGO Global Village Foundation Public Charitable Trust told the Bench that there can not be two parallel inquiries.

    Meanwhile, the State government in its affidavit has called the Union government “non-committal and evasive” while justifying the setting up of a two-member Commission of Inquiry.

    The West Bengal said that the commission it constituted will “put into place effective countermeasures against any rogue foreign spyware”.

    The West Bengal government also questioned the motive behind the plea, claiming that the trustee and chairman of the NGO had close links with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its affiliate, Swadeshi Jagran Manch.

    The Pegasus controversy is indeed a matter of public importance affecting public order and therefore, the state government had the jurisdiction to constitute the commission to restore public confidence in the people of West Bengal and to ensure that no unauthorised interception through rogue foreign spyware can occur in the state, added the affidavit.

    In the earlier hearing, the top court had refused to stay the proceedings of the committee.

    The PIL filed by the NGO sought direction to disband the two-member Commission of Inquiry headed by Justice Madan B Lokur and also comprising former Acting Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court, Justice (retired) Jyotirmay Bhattacharya by the State government to probe the allegations of snooping by Pegasus software developed by Israeli spyware firm NSO.

    It sought to stay on the proceedings of the Commission stating that proceedings before the committee should not go on when the issue is being examined at a pan-India level.

    There are several pleas pending before the apex court seeking a court-monitored probe into the reports of the government allegedly using Israeli software Pegasus to spy on politicians, activists, court staff, and journalists. It also issued notice to the government on the pleas.

    The Centre has apprised the top court that it has decided to constitute a Committee of Experts which will examine all the issues relating to the alleged Pegasus snooping issue.

    The Centre also denied all the allegations of snooping on journalists, politicians, activists and court staff and maintained the petitions are based on conjectures and there is no substance in the accusations.

    The top court had earlier observed that the allegations about the Central government allegedly using Israeli software Pegasus to spy on people “are serious if news reports are correct”.

    As many as eleven pleas were filed before the top court by senior journalists N Ram, and Sashi Kumar, Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas of Communist Marxist Party of India (Marxist) and advocate ML Sharma, former Union minister Yashwant Sinha, RSS ideologue KN Govindacharya.

    Journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, SNM Abdi, Prem Shankar Jha, Rupesh Kumar Singh and Ipsa Shatakshi, who are reported to be on the potential list of snoop targets of Pegasus spyware, had also approached the top court along with The Editors Guild of India (EGI) among others.

    The pleas sought inquiry headed by a sitting or retired judge of the top court to investigate the alleged snooping.

  • Five contractual teachers drink ‘poison’ outside WB education dept over job-related demands

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: Five female contractual teachers of primary schools allegedly consumed poison on Tuesday while demonstrating before the state education department headquarters here seeking immediate fulfilment of their job-related demands, a senior police officer said.

    Four of them “drank some liquid from bottles” as soon as they were arrested for forcefully entering the premises of Bikash Bhavan and shouting slogans in violation of the disaster management act, the officer said.

    The fifth woman, who tried to follow suit, was stopped by a woman constable before she could gulp down much of the liquid, he said.

    “All five were taken to a state-run hospital, where the condition of four was stated to be serious. The fifth woman is out of danger,” the officer stated.

    The agitating teachers, all members of a platform for contractual school teachers, ‘Sikshak Oikyo Manch’, had been seeking regularisation of services and revocation of transfer orders that have forced some of them to move to places that are far from their homes.

    The five teachers had earlier this month demonstrated before the residence of education minister Bratya Basu seeking to know why their demands were not being met with.

    Strongly reacting to the incident, BJP state vice president Jaiprakash Majumdar said, “Lack of concern on the part of the education minister prompted the teachers to consume poison.”

    Kunal Ghosh, the ruling TMC’s spokesperson, wished the teachers a speedy recovery.

    “It has to be looked into if there was any provocation from any quarter. A proper investigation will reveal the details,” he added.

    The education minister and his department officials were not available for comment.

  • Calcutta High Court asks Bengal government to submit student-teacher ratio, other data in schools

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on Monday directed the West Bengal government to submit a report on the status of state-run and aided schools, including student-teacher ratio, by September 7.

    A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice R Bharadwaj directed the state to provide the data during the hearing of a PIL over disproportionate number of teachers at three schools in Bankura district.

    The petitioners alleged that while there are more than adequate teachers in one, two others have no permanent teachers and are being run by para-teachers/ The three educational institutions are situated within a radius of five kilometres, they said.

    The bench directed the state government to submit a report within September 7 on the status of state-run and aided schools in West Bengal, including the student-teacher ratio.

    The petitioners claimed that owing to lack of permanent teachers, the dropout rate in the two schools is high.

  • Will seek action under anti-defection law against Mukul Roy if he doesn’t quit as MLA: Suvendu Adhikari

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari on Monday threatened to approach the Speaker of the House seeking application of the anti-defection law against MLA Mukul Roy if he does not resign in a day.

    Roy had last week rejoined the TMC, of which he was once the second-in-command after Mamata Banerjee, following his three-and-a-half year-long stint in the BJP.

    He had contested the assembly polls on a BJP ticket and bagged the Krishnanagar Uttar seat.

    Without naming Roy, Adhikari said, “An MLA from Krishnanagar Uttar has changed party, and we hope he will resign from the membership of the assembly. If he does not resign by tomorrow, we will write to the Speaker on Wednesday seeking application of the anti-defection law.”

    According to sources in the saffron camp, Roy, who was the national vice president of the BJP, was unhappy with the role and responsibility he was given during the elections.

    Adhikari said BJP national general secretary Bhupender Yadav and Union Law Minister Ravishankar Prasad are “looking into the matter” and legal steps will be taken after seeking their opinion.

    “The BJP legislature party has decided to take recourse to the law if the matter is not settled,” the legislator told reporters outside Raj Bhavan here, where a delegation of saffron party MLAs held a discussion with Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar during the day over the state’s law and order situation.

    Claiming that lawlessness has become the order of the day in West Bengal, he claimed that women are being subjected to atrocities.

    “There seems to be no let up in political violence since the declaration of assembly poll results. We have informed the governor about incidents of attacks and atrocities on women.”

    “It will be wrong if anyone thinks that freedom of speech can be gagged in Bengal by launching attacks on opposition party workers and instituting false cases against them,” he said.

    The leader of opposition alleged that more than 17,000 BJP workers had been staying away from homes for over a month fearing attacks.

    Dhankhar, on his part, tweeted that Adhikari called on him and submitted a representation over the “alarming” law and order situation in the state.

    “Over 50 Opposition MLAs expressed serious concern at lawlessness @MamataOfficial and partisan stance @WBPolice @KolkataPolice and sought intervention as the situation was sliding. Governor assured the MLAs and LOP @SuvenduWB that he will look into grievances of which he is aware,” the governor wrote on the microblogging site.

    Meanwhile, TMC Chief Whip in Rajya Sabha Sukhendu Sekhar Roy said that Dhankhar had been trying to “play up the issue of post-poll violence to impress the BJP”.

    “The way he talks about post-poll violence, it seems the situation is similar to that which arose out of the Arab- Israel conflict. The governor is crossing all limits and prescribed norms,” the TMC leader maintained.

    Roy further pointed out that BJP leaders had made “provocative statements” in the run-up to the elections, but the governor hasn’t said much about it.

    “State BJP president (Dilip Ghosh) had talked about aiming guns at the chest of TMC workers and leaders. What about that?” he said.

    Making light of the BJP delegation’s visit to Raj Bhavan, Roy added, “As per our information, 24 MLAs did not attend the meeting. Why were they missing?” 

  • Bengal: Several new faces among 43 ministers likely to be sworn-in on May 10

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Several fresh faces and a number of trusted lieutenants of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will be sworn-in as ministers at the Raj Bhawan in Kolkata on Monday, a source in the Trinamool Congress said.

    Altogether 43 ministers, including 19 ministers of state, are likely to take oath, the source said.

    One of them will be Amit Mitra, who was the finance minister under Banerjee in her two previous terms since 2011, but was not made a candidate in the recently concluded election due to his ill health.

    However, the TMC supremo wants Mitra back at the helm of the finance department and has plans to make him a member of the assembly through a by-election, the senior leader of the ruling party said.

    Though the TMC has won with a thumping majority in the recently held assembly election, Banerjee herself lost from Nandigram and she too needs to win a bypoll.

    Veteran leaders such as Subrata Mukherjee, Partha Chatterjee, Firhad Hakim, Jyoti Priya Mallick, Moloy Ghatak, Aroop Biswas, Dr Shashi Panja and Javed Ahmed Khan will be made cabinet ministers, the source said.

    There will be 24 cabinet ministers.

    New faces in the council of ministers will include former IPS officer Humayun Kabir, former Bengal Ranji captain Manoj Tiwari and Siuli Saha, he said.

    While Kabir will be among 10 persons who will become ministers of state (independent charge), Tiwari and Saha will feature in the list of nine MLAs who will be sworn-in as ministers of state.

    Banerjee is also scheduled to hold the first Cabinet meeting on Monday after the swearing-in ceremony, he said.

  • Bengal govt asks BJP to seek nod from local authorities for Rath Yatras

    By ANI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Secretary’s office has asked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to approach local authorities for getting permission for Rath Yatras.

    It stated “you may instead approach the appropriate authorities at local levels entrusted with maintenance of law and order including assemblies and processions etc., under relevant Laws and Regulations,” in a letter to Pratap Banerjee, State Vice President Election Office-in-Charge BJP, West Bengal dated February 2.

    Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief JP Nadda are expected to flag off five yatras this month in the poll- bound West Bengal.

    JP Nadda is scheduled to flag off Rath Yatra on February 6 and February 9, while Amit Shah is expected to do so on February 11.

    The West Bengal Assembly Elections for 294 seats are scheduled to take place this year. However, the dates of the polls have not yet been announced by the Election Commission.

  • Bengal government allows reopening of sporting complexes, stadiums, swimming pools

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: All stadiums, swimming pools and sporting complexes outside of containment zones are set to reopen in West Bengal, with the state government having given its green signal on Wednesday.

    According to a government notification, sporting complexes, pools and stadiums have been allowed to operate at full capacity with immediate effect for outdoor events, provided they follow basic COVID-19 protocols, such as maintenance of social distance and use of masks.

    “Sanitisation of the premises before and after any event, maintaining physical distance and use of masks and sanitisers by all have been made mandatory, even when one is not participating in any event,” it said.

    Currently, there are 1,842 ‘district-wise broad-based containment zones’ in Bengal, as per the state government’s ‘Egiye Bangla’ website.

  • Bengal government opens control room for registering of complaints during Gangasagar Mela

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The West Bengal government has opened a control room for registering of any complaint and grievance in connection with the Gangasagar Mela which began on Tuesday at Sagar Island in South 24 Parganas district, an official said.

    Apart from the State Emergency Control Room, public grievances and complaints can also be lodged with the district administration.

    Complaints can be lodged with the control room round the clock through its helpline numbers 1070 and 033 22143526, he said.

    Lakhs of pilgrims from across the country and abroad flock to the Sagar Island — about 130 km from Kolkata — to take the holy dip at the confluence of the Hooghly river and the Bay of Bengal on the occasion of “Makar Sankranti”.

    They also offer prayers at the Kapil Muni Ashram during the Gangasagar fair, considered to be the second-largest congregation after the Kumbh Mela.

    Makar Sankranti marks the end of the winter solstice month and the beginning of longer days.

    According to the calendar, the timings of the holy dip this year will be for 24 hours from 6.02 am on January 14.

    Around 50 lakh people visited the fair last year, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic the authorities expect the number of pilgrims will go down this time, the official said.

    West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said that her government has made arrangements for ‘e-snan (e- bathing)’ for those who will not be able to come to the island for the annual ritual at the confluence of the Hooghly river and the Bay of Bengal due to the coronavirus outbreak.

    Arrangements have also been made to send the holy water and ‘prasad’ to anyone who orders for these from any part of the country at a nominal delivery fee, she said, adding that COVID-19 safety protocols would be maintained at the Gangasagar Mela which will end on January 16.

    All people at the fair will be provided with an insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh from January 8 to 16, she had said.

    She had on January 4 urged pilgrims to go to the annual fair in smaller numbers this year in view of the COVID-19 crisis.

    Banerjee said that there would be 13 medical screening camps at all major entry points to the fair where COVID-19 tests would be conducted for the pilgrims.

    She said that a 600-bed COVID hospital and six wellness centres were set up at the Gangasagar Mela site.

    About 9,000 police personnel are being deployed in and around the island to prevent any untoward incident, the official said.

    Around 1,050 CCTV cameras will be installed and 20 drones will be flown to ensure proper crowd management, he said.

    In a bid to provide a smooth transportation facility to the pilgrims, 2,750 government and private buses, five barges, 32 vessels and 100 launches have been pressed into service.

  • Calcutta HC directs Bengal govt to file supplementary affidavit in Manish Shukla murder case investigation

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday directed the West Bengal government to file a supplementary affidavit on developments in the CID investigation into the murder of BJP leader Manish Shukla within two weeks.

    The court also allowed Chandra Mani Shukla, father of the deceased, to be added as a supporting party in the PIL seeking a probe by a central investigating agency into the killing.

    Granting liberty to the West Bengal government to file the supplementary affidavit on developments in the state CID investigation into the murder of Shukla, a division bench comprising Chief Justice T B N Radhakrishnan and Justice Arijit Banerjee directed that it be filed within two weeks.

    Petitioner Priyanka Tibrewal has prayed that the investigation into the killing be carried out by an independent and central investigating agency like the CBI, which is outside the control of the state administration, for the purpose of a free and fair probe.

    Shukla was shot dead at Titagarh in North 24 Parganas district by some assailants on October four last year.

  • Bengal government letter to railway board, metro and local train can be started

    Kolkata. The West Bengal government has written to the Railway Board saying that metro and local train services can be started in a limited manner by following the protocols related to health safety in the state . The government has asked the board to arrange all the necessary equipment for smooth operation of services.
    State Home Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay wrote a letter to the Chairman of the Railway Board saying, “It is to bring to your notice that the State Government is of the view that the metro and local in Bengal, following the rules of social distance and health cleanliness protocol Train services can be started in a limited way.

    The letter sent to the board on Friday said that the state government should be consulted regarding the modalities and equipment required to ensure smooth operation before resuming services.

    Significantly, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday that her government made up its mind to allow one-fourth of suburban train services and metro rail services to operate with adequate safety protocols, including following the social distance rule from September