News Analysis India

Tag: West Bengal

  • Covaxin rolled out in West Bengal, 60 beneficiaries to be inoculated on first day

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The West Bengal health department on Wednesday rolled out Covaxin, developed by Bharat Biotech, at three vaccination centres in the city — each set to inoculate 20 frontline COVID-19 warriors during the day — an official said.

    The three centres — state-run SSKM hospital, RG Kar Medical College and Hospital and Kolkata Medical College and Hospital – would be administering the vaccines to health and civic workers, after they sign a consent form.

    “Everyone receiving Covaxin doses are required to sign an informed consent form. Today, a total of 60 beneficiaries at the three sites will be administered this vaccine. We do not want to take any chance. Slowly and slowly, we will speed up the process,” the official told.

    So far, Covishield, manufactured by Pune-based Serum Institute of India, has been administered to nearly three lakh people in Bengal.

    Among those who received Covaxin on the first day are National Health Mission managing director Saumitra Mohan, its programme officer Smita Sanyal Sukla and Directorate of Medical Education head Dr Debasish Bhattacharya.

    A second consignment of Covaxin vaccines reached the city from Hyderabad earlier in the day, the official added.

  • Mamata hoodwinking farmers ahead of polls on Centre’s scheme: Amit Shah

    By Express News Service
    KOLKATA: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of hoodwinking the state’s farmers by not providing their details despite announcing that her government was ready to allow Centre’s scheme for ryots.

    While addressing a virtual rally in Howrah, Shah alleged that Mamata duped the farmers on two occasions — first by not allowing PM Kishan Nidhi in Bengal for the past two years and now by not providing details of the farmers who are keen on availing the scheme.

    “After depriving farmers for the past two years, Mamatadidi said she would allow the PM Kishan Nidhi scheme in Bengal. When the Centre asked her to send the details of the farmers, she did not respond. Do you think that people of Bengal do not understand your tricks? You are trying to hoodwink the poor farmers of your state by not sharing their details with the Centre,” said Shah in his speech welcoming newly inducted Trinamool Congress’ turncoats.

    The Union Minister had to cancel his two-day Bengal visit following a blast near the Israel Embassy in Delhi.

    Earlier in January, Mamata had said that the Centre claimed around 21.7 lakh farmers from Bengal registered themselves on a portal to avail the benefits of the central scheme. “They (the Centre) have sought verification of this data. I understood the Centre is trying to politicise the matter. We realised the farmers should not suffer because of this. I have asked the Centre to pass on the data so that we can start the verification process,” she had said.

    A face-off between the central government and Mamata Banerjee ensued on the central scheme issue as the Bengal government wanted the Centre to transfer the fund to the state’s account and disburse it among the farmers by using the state’s machinery. But the Centre wanted to transfer the money directly to the beneficiaries’ bank accounts.

    Refuting Shah’s allegation, TMC minister and spokesperson Chandrima Bhattacharya said the Centre did not send the farmers’ list despite the chief minister’s request.

    Hitting out at the Bengal CM for barring Centre’s Ayshman Bharat health insurance scheme, Shah assured that after wresting power in Bengal the scheme would be introduced in the state. “Today I am promising that after coming to power in Bengal, the Ayushman Bharat scheme will be allowed in Bengal in the first cabinet meeting,” he said.

    The Union Home minister lashed out at Mamata for violence in Bengal and allowing infiltrators to settle down.

    As Shah cancelled his Bengal visit, textile minister Smriti Irani was present in the Howrah rally where other than the TMC lawmakers, 25 ruling party functionaries of Zilla Parishad, municipalities and gram panchayats joined the BJP. Smriti, in her speech, castigated Mamata for not allowing migrant workers to enter Bengal during the lockdown and misusing the Centre’s financial assistance to the state government as a relief for cyclone Amphan victims.

  • TMC looted rations provided by Centre during lockdown: Smriti Irani

    By PTI
    DUMURJALA: Accusing the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal of indulging in corruption, Union Minister Smriti Irani said on Sunday that while Prime Minister Narendra Modi provided foodgrains for 80 crore people of the country for eight months during the pandemic, the rations were looted by the party in the state.

    Maintaining that over 50 crore mandays were created under ‘Garib Rojgar Yojana’ for migrant workers returning home, Irani claimed that “it did not happen in Bengal”.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in June last year launched the employment scheme for migrant workers who had returned to villages from cities, during the coronavirus lockdown, to help them get jobs near their home and help in development of villages.

    “The Prime Minister provided five kg rice and one kg dal for 80 crore people of the country for eight months through ‘Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana’, but in Bengal, TMC looted it during the lockdown,” she said addressing a BJP rally here.

    Claiming that Shramik Special Trains arranged by the Centre were termed ‘Corona Express’ by Mamata Banerjee, Irani said, “I want to ask her whether sons and daughters from Bengal working in different parts of the country are considered viruses by her”.

  • West Bengal assembly passes resolution demanding withdrawal of new farm laws

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The West Bengal assembly on Thursday passed a resolution against the three contentious farm laws enacted by the Centre and demanded that they be withdrawn immediately.

    The resolution was moved by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Partha Chatterjee.

    While speaking on the resolution, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the Centre should either withdraw the new laws or step down.

    ALSO READ: Ahead of Budget session, 16 Opposition parties decide to boycott President’s address to Parliament

    The CPI(M) and the Congress supported the resolution but demanded that the state government withdraw similar laws it had passed a few years back.

    BJP MLAs opposed the resolution and staged a walkout shouting “Jai Shri Ram” slogans.

  • Mamata wants to create ‘Greater Bangladesh’: BJP chief Dilip Ghosh

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: In a Facebook post, BJP state president Dilip Ghosh on Thursday accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of trying to create a “Greater Bangladesh” by raising ‘Jai Bangla’ slogan at her public meetings.

    Ghosh shared a poster on his official Facebook account where an image of Banerjee is shown with the caption -“The honourary person is uttering the Bangladeshi slogan Jai Bangla which is the national slogan of Islamic Bangladesh.”

    “She is fighting with the objective of a Greater Bangladesh,” the post said.

    Two other images of Bangladeshi actor Firdaus campaigning for the Trinamool Congress in 2019 Lok Sabha polls and a Bangladeshi cricketer inaugurating a Durga Puja, organised by a Trinamool Congress MLA in north Kolkata, were also attached with the Facebook post.

    The chief minister on January 23 declined to speak at an event to celebrate Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s birth anniversary where “Jai Shri Ram” slogans were raised in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

    Banerjee had not started her speech when the slogan was raised by a section of the crowd at the Victoria Memorial event to celebrate the 125th birth anniversary of the freedom fighter.

    “This is a government programme and not a political programme. There has to be dignity. It doesn’t behove anybody to invite people and insult. I won’t speak. Jai Bangla, Jai Hind,” she had said, wrapping up.

    Strongly reacting to Ghosh’s Facebook post, TMC MP Sougata Roy described it as “not worthy of response”.

    “It is condemnable that the BJP is trying to import its divisive communal brand of politics to Bengal,” Roy added.

    TMC spokesman Kunal Ghosh said, “Ghosh has forgotten that the BJP has increased its number by inducting former TMC members which shows the bankruptcy of the saffron party”.

  • TMC government in Bengal to table resolution against new farm laws in assembly on January 28

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal will table a resolution during the upcoming two-day assembly session, opposing the Centre’s new farm laws and demanding their immediate repeal, a senior minister said on Monday.

    The assembly session will begin on January 27 and the resolution will be tabled under Rule 169 during the second half on January 28, state Parliamentary Affairs Minister Partha Chatterjee said.

    A two-and-half-hour-long discussion will be held, he said.

    An all-party meeting was convened by Speaker Biman Banerjee at his chamber in the assembly during the day.

    ​ALSO READ | Bengal polls: Election Commission likely to deploy 1 lakh para troops

    The state government’s effort to bring the Congress and the Left Front on the same page to table a joint resolution failed as the opposition parties wanted to bring it under Rule 185.

    “They wanted to bring the same resolution under Rule 185. What is the point of bringing two resolutions on the same issue under two different rules? When the government has submitted a resolution, it is expected that it will be accepted,” Chatterjee said.

    Leader of the Opposition and senior Congress leader Abdul Mannan said that the TMC government does not have any moral authority to bring a resolution against the Centre’s new farm laws as the state administration too had passed similar laws a few years back.

    ​ALSO READ | Farmers’ rally: Hundreds of women to drive tractors, make their presence count

    “Unless the TMC government withdraws the similar laws it had passed a few years back, there is no meaning in bringing a resolution against the Centre’s new farm laws. The resolution that we had submitted had those points but the state administration was not willing to accept it,” he said.

    The Left Front and the Congress, however, said that they will take part in the discussion and place their views in the House.

    BJP legislative party leader Manoj Tigga said his party will oppose the resolution.

    Apart from the resolution, two bills pertaining to the establishment of an agricultural university and GST-related issues will be tabled.

  • PM Narendra Modi’s whirlwind West Bengal, Assam tour starts tomorrow

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  Prime Minister Narendra Modi will head to the poll bound states of West Bengal and Assam on January 23.

    In West Bengal, the prime minister will take part in the celebrations of the 125th birth anniversary of Subhash Chandra Bose, while he will distribute land rights to the indigenous people in Assam on the same day. 

    While the BJP will be seeking to retain power in Assam, the saffron outfit is building up a campaign in West Bengal to wrest power from the ruling Trinamool Congress.  

    “Prime Minister will visit Kolkata to address the Parakram Diwas celebrations on January 23 to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary year of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Prime Minister will also visit Jerenga Pathar in Sivasagar, Assam to distribute 1.06 lakh land pattas/allotment certificates,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a media statement.

    The Prime Minister will preside over the inaugural function of the Parakram Diwas at Victoria Memorial in Kolkata.

    “In order to honour and remember Netaji’s indomitable spirit and selfless service to the nation, the government has decided to celebrate his birthday on January 23 every year as Parakram Diwas to inspire people of the country to act with fortitude,” the PMO added.

    The PMO also stated that a permanent exhibition and a projection mapping show on Netaji will be inaugurated on the occasion.“A commemorative coin and postage stamp will also be released by the Prime Minister. A cultural programme Amra  Nuton Jouboneri Doot, based on the theme of Netaji, will also be held,” added the PMO. 

    Renewed land policy

    In Assam, the PM will distribute 1.06 lakh land pattas in Sivasagar. “Taking into account an urgent need to protect the land rights of indigenous people Government of Assam came out with a new land policy with renewed emphasis on protecting their land rights. The issuance of patta for indigenous people of Assam has been given highest priority in order to instill a sense of security amongst them,” said the PMO in the statement

  • Three BJP workers arrested for ‘Goli maro’ slogan in West Bengal, party alleges bias

    By Express News Service
    KOLKATA: Three BJP activists, including the party’s youth wing chief, were arrested in the wee hours of Thursday for allegedly raising the ‘Goli maro sa** ko’ (shoot the traitors) slogan during a roadshow of party leader Suvendu Adhikari in Hooghly district.

    The three, including youth wing chief Suresh Shaw, will be produced in a district court.

    BJP leaders alleged that police were showing favouritism as a similar slogan was raised in a rally led by Arup Roy on Tuesday.

    Suresh and other BJP workers were seen trailing a vehicle on which Suvendu and BJP MP from Hooghly Locket Chatterjee were seen greeting the crowd during the roadshow. Suresh was shouting the slogan and others joined him.

    “This is a clear example of bias shown by the police. People are seeing all this and they will give a befitting reply in the upcoming Assembly elections,” said BJP’s state president Dilip Ghosh.

  • Fire breaks out at Hastings Jute Mill in West Bengal

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: A fire broke out at the over 140-year-old Hastings Jute Mill in West Bengal’s Hooghly district on Thursday morning, officials said.

    The blaze is likely to have caused severe damage to stock of raw jute in the godown, though the exact extent is yet to be ascertained, they said.

    Three fire tenders were pressed to service and the situation is now under control, the officials said.

    Nobody was injured in the mishap and mill operations are normal, a Hastings Jute Mill official said.

    The mill started operations in 1875 with 230 looms.

  • West Bengal: Good riddance barb draws two goodbyes

    By Express News Service
    KOLKATA: Hardly 24 hours after the Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee’s ‘good riddance’ remark on turncoats, two more legislators added their names to the long list of defectors. While Santiur (Nadia) MLA Arindam Banerjee reached Delhi on Wednesday and joined the saffron camp.

    Diamond Harbour legislator Dipak Haldar is likely to switch to BJP during a rally at Baruipur in South 24-Parganas on Thursday.

    Bhattacharya, who was elected on Congress ticket in 2016 and later had defected to the TMC, said, “When people like me quit their profession and join politics, they come with a vision. I joined politic to uplift the lot of the people of my constituency. My repeated pleas to the leadership to address the malpractices and corruption had always fallen on deaf years. Hence, the decision to join BJP.”

    Haldar, too, had been vocal about his discontent over the party leadership.

    ‘Goli Maaro’ chants mar adhikari rally

    In an ominous signal of the Bengal electoral battle being marred by violence, “goli maaro…” chants were raised at TMC and BJP rallies, though both parties distanced themselves from the slogan.

    At a rally led by Suvendu Adhikari in Chandannagar on Wednesday, the slogan “desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maaro…” (shoot the traitors) was allegedly raised by a few BJP cadre.