News Analysis India

Tag: West Bengal

  • With Covid situation improving in West Bengal, Mamata relaxes certain restrictions

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said that as the number of active Covid-19 cases has come down in the state, her government relaxed a few restrictions allowing opening of retail shops including bookstalls from noon to 3 pm and construction activities after vaccinating workers.

    Banerjee said that operations in the Information Technology and ITES sector shall also be allowed with 10 per cent of total strength to enable backend and maintenance works between noon and 3 pm.

    “Construction activities and operations in industries and manufacturing units will be allowed with onsite staff after workers are vaccinated for Covid-19.

    Employers shall give a prior intimation to the district magistrates concerned regarding the compliance on vaccination status of the staff and workers,” she said reading out an order.

    The state government has imposed various restrictions for 15 days from May 16 and then extended it till June 15 to combat a surge in Covid-19 cases.

    “The active Covid-19 cases have come down to 1,09,806. The daily positivity rate has also come down to 18-19 per cent from 33 per cent,” she said adding that during the first wave it was 117.45 per cent.

    The discharge rate has also improved to 91 per cent, she said.

    The chief minister said that at least 1.41 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been given and 40 lakh people got both doses.

    She said that the state government has started procurement of vaccines on its own and has already spent Rs 114 crore for it.

    “We have also started purchasing vaccines on our own. In the month of May, we have procured 18 lakh vaccines and in June we will be purchasing another 22 lakh,” she said.

    Meanwhile, the Publishers and Booksellers Guild welcomed the decision of the state government to allow book shops to open shutters from noon to 3 pm.

    “We had urged the chief minister to allow book shops to open in the interest of readers, writers, publishers and book sellers.

    We are happy she responded to our plea,” Guild President Tridib Chatterjee said.

    Real estate sector body CREDAI said also welcomed the decision to allow construction activities saying that realty farms will vaccinate workers.

  • Narada case: Division bench cannot hear CBI’s transfer plea, Bengal govt tells HC

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The West Bengal government on Monday claimed before the Calcutta High Court that a division bench cannot hear the CBI’s application for transfer of the Narada sting tape case from a lower court to itself, and said that a single bench should take it up.

    A division bench of the high court had referred the matter to a larger bench of five judges following differences between Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Arijit Banerjee over granting interim bail to two West Bengal ministers, an MLA and a former mayor of the city, arrested by the CBI in the Narada sting tape case.

    The CBI has sought transfer of the case alleging extraordinary circumstances wherein West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sat on a dharna in the CBI office after the arrests and the agency not being able to produce the four accused in court physically owing to unruly protests by a large number of people outside its office complex.

    Advocate General Kishore Dutta, appearing for the state, submitted that a division bench does not have jurisdiction to hear a transfer application and it should be taken up by a single bench.

    Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta objected to the submission of the AG, claiming that the state does not want the court to hear the matter on merits.

    The five-judge bench, comprising Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and justices I P Mukerji, Harish Tandon, Soumen Sen and Arijit Banerjee, adjourned hearing in the matter till Tuesday.

    The five-judge bench granted interim bail on May 28 to ministers Subrata Mukherjee and Firhad Hakim, Trinamool Congress MLA Madan Mitra and former Kolkata mayor Sovan Chatterjee, who were arrested on May 17 by the CBI, which is investigating the Narada sting tape case on a 2017 order of the high court.

    The special CBI court had granted them bail on that day itself, but the order was stayed by the high court, which remanded them to judicial custody.

    They had been placed under house arrest on May 21 by the high court, modifying its earlier order of stay on the bail.

    The Narada sting operation was conducted by journalist Mathew Samuel of Narada News, a web portal, in 2014 wherein some people resembling TMC ministers, MPs and MLAs were seen receiving money from representatives of a fictitious company in lieu of favours.

    At that time, the four arrested politicians were ministers in the Mamata Banerjee government.

    The sting operation was made public ahead of the 2016 assembly elections in West Bengal.

  • Bengal govt yet to give nod to Chief Secretary for central appointment: Source

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay, whose sudden transfer order from the Centre days before his retirement snowballed into a major controversy, is unlikely to report to the Department of Personnel and Training on Monday, as he is yet to get the nod from the state government, a highly placed source said.

    Bandyopadhyay was very much present at the state secretariat ‘Nabanna’ even on a Sunday, he said.

    “As of now, Mr Bandyopadhyay has not been relieved of his duties by the West Bengal government…As per tomorrow’s schedule, he may be participating in a review meeting to be chaired by the CM at the state secretariat around 3 pm,” the source told PTI.

    The Centre, in a surprise move, had on Friday night sought Bandyopadhyay’s services and asked the state government to immediately release the top bureaucrat.

    Bandyopadhyay, a 1987-batch IAS officer of West Bengal cadre, was scheduled to retire on May 31 after completion of 60 years of age.

    However, he was granted a three-month extension following a nod from the Centre to work on Covid management.

    In a communique to the state government, the Personnel Ministry on Friday said the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the placement of the services of Bandyopadhyay with Government of India as per provisions of the Indian Administrative Service (cadre) Rules, 1954, “with immediate effect”.

    It also directed Bandyopadhyay to report to the Department of Personnel and Training, North Block, New Delhi by 10 am on Monday.

    Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had on Saturday called the Centre’s decision to recall Bandyopadhyay as “unconstitutional” and “illegal”, and appealed to the Union government to withdraw its order.

  • Amphan lessons learnt: West Bengal government to plug relief leakage for cyclone Yaas-affected

    Express News Service
    KOLKATA: Stung by criticism over alleged corruption in cyclone Amphan relief distribution last year, the West Bengal government has decided to distribute compensation for cyclone Yaas victims bypassing the leaders of civic bodies.

    CM Mamata Banerjee has made it clear that separate task forces, set up at the state, district, sub-divisional and block levels, will work under the direct supervision of the chief secretary and for managing cyclone Yaas relief operations.

    “The government’s own machinery will be engaged to ensure compensation for those who deserve. No party worker or local leaders will be engaged in the process of identifying cyclone victims,” Banerjee said.

    In the run-up to the Assembly elections earlier this year, the BJP had accused several TMC functionaries of forcing cyclone Amphan victims to pay “cut-money” and siphoning off money sent by the Centre for cyclone Amphan relief.

    “The CM had expressed her displeasure over the issue of post-Amphan ‘corruption’, which surfaced during an inquiry. In many cases, members of gram panchayats or panchayat samities or their relatives were found siphoning off compensation money,” an official in the state secretariat said.

    The government has now engaged six nodal departments agriculture, disaster management, animal resources development, horticulture, fisheries and MSME to identify beneficiaries of cyclone Yaas.

    It has also decided to set up camps from June 3 to 18 under ‘Duare Tran’.  “The camps will be held in the affected areas and victims can  apply for compensation. The applications will be verified between June 19 and 30, and compensation credited to bank accounts from July 1 to 8,” said the official.

    Compensation amount

    A compensation of Rs 20,000 per household will be paid to those whose house was completely destroyed in the cyclone. For partial damage, Rs 5,000 will be paid per household. For crop loss, it has been fixed from Rs 1,000 to 2,500, but can be increased depending on the extent of the damage 

  • Rates of COVID deaths, positivity in Bengal now much less than first wave: CM Mamata Banerjee

    West Bengal on Saturday registered 11,514 fresh COVID-19 cases taking the tally to 13,54,956, the bulletin said.

  • COVID-19: Former West Bengal CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s health condition is stable

    By ANI
    KOLKATA: The health condition of former Chief Minister of West Bengal, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who was admitted to the hospital after testing COVID-19 positive, is now stable.

    As per the official release by Woodlands Hospital Critical Care Department on Saturday morning, “Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee (age 77 years) and Former Chief Minister of West Bengal, admitted on May 25, 2021, at 12.32 pm in Woodlands Hospital Critical Care Department. He is now stable.”

    “He presented with drowsiness and shortness of breath. He was detected SarsCov2 positive on May 18, 2021. He is on intermittent BIPAP with 3 litres of oxygen, SpO2 maintaining at 92 percent. He is presently conscious, alert and talking sensibly. He has a mild dry cough,” informed the hospital.

    The hospital authorities further informed, “Blood pressure is stable, he is having a heart rate of 60/min. Urine output is satisfactory. He is taking food orally. His capillary blood glucose levels are normal now. He is on Injection Clexane, Injection Solumedrol, Injection Remdesivir (day 5) and other supportive measures.”

    Treating doctors are on constant vigil on his health situation and will take appropriate measures from time to time, assured the hospital.

    Representing the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was the Chief Minister of West Bengal from 2000 to 2011. At present, Mamata Banerjee is the Chief Minister of West Bengal from 2012 onwards.

  • Kolkata diary: All that’s happening in the City of Joy

    Express News Service
    Stadium turned into COVID Care Centre

    A stadium in Barrackpore in North 24 Parganas district has been converted into a satellite COVID-19 treatment facility of the Nehru Memorial Techno Global Hospital. The centre has onsite doctors and nurses to monitor the patients. Other facilities include oxygen administration, including high-flow support, and X-ray.

    It facility is primarily for patients from Barrackpore, Khardah, Titagarh and nearby areas. The centre started with 35 beds and will add another 35 beds in a week and a further 30 by June 7. The initiative was taken after Barrackpore MLA Raj Chakrabarty approached the Nehru Memorial Techno Global Hospital and suggested converting the stadium as a treatment facility.

    Don Bosco School opens classrooms for COVID care

    Don Bosco School in Park Circus has opened up its classroom for treatment of Covid-19 patients. A 30-bed facility has been set up in a classroom on the ground floor of the building. The facility has beds with oxygen support.

    “As of now schools are closed and we are not sure when we will be able to reopen the campus. When we have the space and facilities, we thought we should make it available for medical service and reach out to the needy,” said an official of the school.

    Doctors among the parents of the school’s present and previous students are working together with the school management to dispense COVID care. West Bengal on Thursday extended the COVID lockdown till June 15. 

    Higher secondary exams by July-end

    Due to the pandemic, the state education board has decided to push higher secondary (Class XII) exams to the last week of July and secondary (Class X) exams to the second week of August. Exams will only be held for the main papers at home centres (the school that the student attends). Exams won’t be conducted for additional papers.

    The Central boards – CBSE and he Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations – are yet to announce the date for the Class XII exams. Both boards are set to review the pandemic situation in the first week of June.

    Free tutorial on digital platforms for children

    Students of Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira in Belur will offer free tutorials on digital platforms to under-privileged students from Class III to VIII six days a week, according to a plan drawn up by the college.

    According to a notice issued by the college authorities, classes will be held from 7 am to 8 pm in Bengali, English, Social Studies, History, Geography, Mathematics, Science and Environmental Science.

    A detailed schedule has been uploaded on the Facebook page of the college. YouTube links for the different classes have been uploaded too.

  • Class 12 board exams to be held in late July, Class 10 tests in mid-August: Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal will hold the Class 12 board examinations in the last week of July, while the tests for Class 10 will take place in mid-August, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Thursday.

    The dates will be announced later by the respective boards, she said.

    “We have decided to hold the secondary (Madhyamik) and higher secondary (Uccho Madhyamik) examinations…adhering to all COVID-19 safety protocols,” Banerjee told reporters at the state secretariat.

    Both the board examinations will be held at home centres and only for compulsory subjects, she said, adding, a detailed announcement will be made by Education Minister Bratya Basu.

    “Examinations will be held in their own schools. Students will feel at home and not have to travel in buses and public vehicles amid this pandemic,” the CM said.

    She also said that timing of the examinations will be halved with more options for students while answering the tests.

    “Question papers had already been set…In that case, a three-hour test will now be reduced to 1.5 hours and students will be given the option to answer five questions out of 10. This will help the boards and the examinees amid this tough situation,” Banerjee said.

    Over 12 lakh students are scheduled to sit for the Madhyamik Examinations, having seven compulsory subjects.

    It will take seven days to complete the Class 10 exams, she said.

    Over 8.5 lakh students are likely to appear for the higher secondary examinations with 15 compulsory subjects.

    “Please take necessary measures in case adjustments are required. But, I do not want any extra pressure on the students,” the chief minister said.

    Banerjee said the decision to conduct the Class 12 examinations first was taken in view of students typically sitting for various entrance tests for higher studies.

  • Yaas-hit people cry for food, shelter amid heavy rain in pockets of West Bengal

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Hundreds of people complained that they had to go without food and sleep in the aftermath of cyclone, which has wreaked havoc in Bengal, as their homes lay inundated amid heavy showers that continued to pummel several parts of the state on Thursday.

    Cyclone ‘Yaas’, which made its landfall near Dhamra port in Odisha, barrelled through the neighbouring state and Bengal on Wednesday, causing widespread destruction as it hollered on its path to Jharkhand.

    Officials said that the administration was trying its best to reach out to people in need, but the inclement weather is impeding relief work in certain pockets.

    At Kadupara village in Sunderbans area of South 24 Parganas, water has risen to waist level, forcing people to step out of their homes with children in tow.

    “No one from the administration has visited us yet…I am starving, these children are starving,” Lakshmi Majhi, a resident of Kadupara said, as she stood on the flooded courtyard outside her house with her three children.

    Majhi further said, “We were asked by the administration to rush to nearby school camp. But how can we go? It will take me 30 minutes to reach the camp. How will I wade through the flooded roads with my children, leaving my home and belongings behind?” Bapan Laskar, a migrant worker of the same village, said he was finding it difficult to make ends meet in the midst of the lockdown, and the cyclone has added to his woes.

    “I work as a mason in Kolkata, but the COVID-induced lockdown robbed me of my livelihood. This cyclone, on top of that, has partially damaged my home. I do not know what to do,” Laskar, who lives with his ailing parents, said.

    In cyclone-ravaged Kultali, villagers were seen lining up on the elevated pavements, most of them without masks, even as water levels kept rising due to the incessant rainfall.

    “Saline water from the sea gushed in, breaching the embankments, and destroyed crops that we had taken pains to grow. Almost every villager in the area depends on fishing and farming. With ponds and farmlands flooded with saline water, residents here are now staring at an uncertain future,” one of the villagers lamented.

    Kultali MLA Ganesh Chandra Mondal, however, said that disaster management personnel have fanned out to the affected areas in South 24 Parganas to shift all marooned villagers to relief camps, set up in school buildings.

    Similar tales of misery were shared by people in Purba Medinipur district, which, too, bore the brunt of the storm.

    In the tourist town of Digha, one of the worst-affected areas in the state, shops selling knick-knacks close to the beach lay ravaged, with shells, junk jewelleries and other decorative items seen floating in the flood water.

    Several hotels in Mandarmoni, another resort town, also suffered extensive damage.

    In Shankarpur, roads in certain areas were reduced to patches of boulders with telltale signs of destruction around.

    A Digha Development Authority official said work to repair damaged structures would begin in a day or two.

    Mamoni Das of Ramnagar in Purba Medinipur broke down when reporters approached her.

    Das, a middle-aged widow with no children, said she was rescued by Army personnel after the squall on Wednesday morning flattened her home in a trice.

    “I am thriving on puffed rice that I managed to get from a nearby relief camp. With everything lost, I do not know how to rebuild my life,” she added.

  • Cyclone Yaas: Houses, shops damaged at West Bengal’s Digha, small shop owners lose only source of income

    By ANI
    PURBA MEDINIPUR: Though the cyclonic storm Yaas had made its landfall over Odisha, but the after-effect can also be seen at the East Medinipur district in West Bengal.

    Several houses and shops in the coastal town of Digha have been completely damaged. The tin rooftop of the houses were been blown away by the wind. Many small shop owners have lost their source of income as their shops have been destroyed by the cyclonic storm.

    Shakti Pada Rana, a fast-food shop-owner at the coastal area of Digha told ANI that they have lost materials worth Rs 1 lakh to 1.5 lakhs.

    “We have faced many cyclones earlier, but did not face such loss. This shop was the only source of income for my family,” Shakti said.

    Another shopkeeper Beni Madhav Rana said they thought, it would be like the other cyclones they faced earlier but never thought it would destroy things completely.

    “We are picking up the things left so that it can be used when the shops are renovated,” Beni told ANI.

    According to the Regional Meteorological Centre in West Bengal, several parts of West Bengal, including Hooghly, North and South 24 Parganas, Birbhum and Murshidabad districts are likely to witness thunderstorm with lightning and gusty wind on Thursday.

    Meanwhile, seven Indian Navy teams from Visakhapatnam are taking part in relief operations in the aftermath of cyclone Yaas in West Bengal.

    The cyclone impacted East Medinipur, West Medinipur, Bankura, South 24 Pargana and Jhargram districts in West Bengal and Balasore, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Jajpur, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj in Odisha.

    IMD said cyclonic storm Yaas weakened into a deep depression and lay centered at 11.30 pm on May 26 over south Jharkhand and adjoining north interior Odisha. It is likely to move northwestwards and weaken gradually into a depression during the next 12 hours.