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Kolkata, Sep 13 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), on Saturday, issued instructions to Durga Puja committees to open parks, which will be used for puja mandap, for the people within 14 days after the idol immersion in the city. A KMC official has said that this condition was imposed from the time permission was given to Durga Puja committees to use parks for their puja mandaps. The decision to give a timeline to open such parks for public was taken after observing that many parks remain closed for a long time after Durga Puja as puja committees delay in removing mandap structures. Local residents also lodged complaints with the KMC over the years that they cannot use the parks because of mandap structures. Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA and Mayor Member in Council of KMC (Gardens), Debasish Kumar has taken this initiative to address grievances of the residents. By issuing a verbal order, Kumar has made it clear that if a Durga Puja pavilion is built in any park, the structure of the pavilion will have to be dismantled within 14 days after Vijaya Dashami. "Parks are the property of the common people. Permission is being given to perform puja there. But the park must be returned on time, subject to conditions. Strict action will be taken this year if the rules are not followed," the TMC MLA said. He also said, "After Durga Puja, Kali Puja is also held in various parks. If the Durga Puja pandals are not dismantled, the preparations for Kali Puja may also be affected. Keeping everything in mind, a two-week deadline has been set this time." It has been seen over the years that several parks where Durga Puja is held remain closed to the general public for nearly a month after the festivities. This is because the puja committees delay in opening the structures of the mandap. As a result, local residents face various problems. It causes inconvenience for elderly to take morning and evening walks. It also prevents children to use the park for playing as everything is blocked due to the bamboo structures of the mandap. Prominent puja committees, which uses parks to organise Durga Puja are Jagat Mukherjee Park, Kumartuli Park, Deshapriya Park, Khidirpur 25 Palli, Santosh Mitra Square, Pratapaditya Road Trikon Park and Jatin Das Park.
Guwahati, Jun 5 (PTI) The Assam Congress on Thursday demanded a CBI inquiry into alleged illegal stone mining in Karbi Anglong district in violation of a Supreme Court order. Addressing a press conference here, former Rajya Sabha member Ripun Bora also alleged that Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council Chief Executive Member Tuliram Ronghang was allowing illegal activities in the district in nexus with Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. "Large-scale illegal stone mining is taking place in the hills of Karbi Anglong in violation of the Supreme Court order. The SC had banned mining in and around K ...Read More >
Berhampur (Odisha), Jun 6 (PTI) Environmental activist Medha Patkar on Saturday appealed to the people of Odisha for protection of Rushikulya river. The government planned to construct a dam in the river Pipalapnaka under Sorada block in the district. While participating in the Save Rushikulya river movement in Ganjam district, she said, "Rivers may be small or big, but they are our mother. We have to protect the rivers from attacks." She attended a meeting were organised by the Rushikulya Banchao Kriyaanusthan Committee (RBKC) and the Centre for Climate Justice, spearheading the agitation a ...Read More >
NEW DELHI: Axiom-4 crew members, including Shubhanshu Shukla, were welcomed with hugs and drinks as they stepped into the International Space Station on Thursday. The newly launched spacecraft -- the fifth in the Dragon series and named Grace -- successfully completed a soft docking with the International Space Station at 4.01pm while orbiting above the North Atlantic Ocean."At 6:31 am EDT (4:01 IST) on Thursday, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft docked to the International Space Station for the fourth private astronaut mission to the orbiting laboratory, Axiom Mission 4," the National Aeronautics ...Read More >
Angul (Odisha), June 27 (SocialNews.XYZ) The sacred festival of Rath Yatra was celebrated with great devotion and traditional splendor at Jagannath Temple in Dev Bhumi, Jindal Nagar, Angul, drawing thousands of devotees to witness the divine journey of the Chaturdha Murti -- Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra, and Sudarshan. The day commenced with Mangala Arati at the Anasara Bedi, followed by a series of age-old rituals like Mailam and Tadapa Lagi. Devotees thronged the temple premises from early morning, immersing themselves in spiritual chants and devotional hymns. The highlig ...Read More >
Mysuru/Mandya: Nadaprabhu Kempegowda is the reason Bengaluru enjoys global recognition today, said agriculture minister and Mandya district minister N Cheluvarayaswamy.He was speaking at the inauguration of the 516th Kempegowda Jayanti celebrations held at Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar Kalamandira in Mandya. The event was jointly organised by the district administration and the department of Kannada and culture.Cheluvarayaswamy emphasised that Kempegowda, with remarkable foresight, constructed lakes and temples in Bengaluru over 500 years ago. "His vision laid the foundation for the development ...Read More >
Kolkata, Jun 28 (PTI) The police on Saturday stopped a BJP rally led by its West Bengal unit chief Sukanta Majumdar and detained him along with several other party leaders when they tried to take out the protest march to a law college in the city, where a student was allegedly gang-raped, a senior officer said. The rally was not allowed to proceed towards the South Calcutta Law College, where the 24-year-old student was allegedly gang-raped by three men, including an alumnus of the institute, on June 25. "The protest march was stopped at Gariahat crossing in south Kolkata, and Majumdar and s ...Read More >
Bhubaneswar: Mohammad Rafiq, a former MLA and a prominent BJP member from the erstwhile Melchamunda constituency in Bargarh district, died on Friday following prolonged illness. He was 71. Rafiq, who was undergoing treatment at a local hospital, represented Melchamunda in the assembly from 2004 to 2009. He also served as state president of the BJP Minority Morcha and held the position of vice-president of the Sohela Durga Puja Committee. The state BJP unit expressed sorrow over his demise and extended their condolences to the bereaved family.TNN ...Read More >
NEW DELHI: The government on Saturday extended the term of the chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Ravi Agrawal by one year, an official notification said.The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved the re-appointment of Agrawal, an IRS officer of the 1988 batch, as CBDT chairman for one year from July 1 this year to June 30, 2026, on contract basis.Agrawal took over as the CBDT chairman from Nitin Gupta in June 2024 after Gupta's extended tenure ended. Agrawal has been a member of CBDT. He was member administration and had served as DG investigation in Delhi. The gover ...Read More >
Kolkata: The past week in West Bengal has been nothing short of a political theatre of the absurd, with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) descending into public infighting over one of the most sensitive issues, gang rape. What should have been an occasion for empathy, justice, and responsible leadership has instead turned into an embarrassing spectacle, exposing the party's deep-rooted lack of accountability and a shocking disregard for survivors of sexual violence. The trigger for this latest round of controversy was the appalling gang rape of a law student from South Calcutta Law College. Inste ...Read More >
Kolkata, June 6 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the West Bengal Police probing the murder of Hargobindo Das and Chandan Das, the father and the son killed in the Murshidabad violence in April this year, has filed the charge sheet in the matter on Friday. A total of 13 people have been named as accused in the killings of the father and son in April this year at Samserganj in Murshidabad district when communal violence and riot-like situation broke out there after protests against the Waqf (Amendment) Act turned violent there. The charge sheet has been filed exactly on ...Read More >
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], June 26 (ANI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar announced on Thursday that the meeting on the Hemavathi link canal, originally scheduled for June 30, has been postponed to July 4-5, following a request from Union Minister V Somanna. Speaking to reporters at his Sadashivanagar residence here, Shivakumar said, 'We have postponed the meeting as Somanna is also the MP from the district. The officials have been instructed accordingly.' The Deputy CM also addressed the postponement of a meeting with Yettinahole project contractors in Tumakuru, attributin ...Read More >
Guwahati (Assam) [India], June 28 (ANI): Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, on his visit to the Kamakhya temple in Guwahati on Saturday shared the development project aimed towards making the trip to the temple more accessible and time-efficient He said, 'A ropeway will be constructed from Kamakhya station to Kamakhya temple and another ropeway will be constructed from Sonaram field to Kamakhya temple. Work on both ropeways is going on. The process of floating a tender has already been done. A feasibility study for many other ropeways is going on.' The construction of both ropeways to ...Read More >
Kolkata, Jun 28 (PTI) A day after Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee's controversial remark on the gang rape of a law student, senior party leader and MLA Madan Mitra on Saturday said that the incident would not have happened had the student taken a couple of friends with her or informed people before going there. "This incident has sent a message to girls that if someone calls you when the college is closed, don't go, nothing good will come of it. If that girl had not gone there, this incident wouldn't have happened," Mitra said. "If she had informed someone before going or had taken a c ...Read More >
New Delhi: Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra on Saturday reiterated her party's zero-tolerance policy on crimes against women and condemned misogynistic remarks made by two senior party colleagues, calling for accountability regardless of political affiliation. Her comments came in the wake of public outrage over the gangrape of a 24-year-old law student from South Calcutta Law College, which led to the arrest of four men, including a former student and current office-bearer of the TMC's student wing. In a statement on Friday, the TMC officially distanced itself from controversial rem ...Read More >
Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], June 29 (ANI): Following his release from the Lal Bazaar police headquarters, Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar hit out at the West Bengal government, stating when the 'police sleep, someone has to wake up.' West Bengal BJP President Sukanta Majumdar was detained by Kolkata Police on Saturday while leading a protest against the alleged gangrape incident at South Calcutta Law College. The protest was part of the BJP's statewide demonstrations demanding justice for the victim and criticising the Mamata Banerjee-led government for its alleged failure to ensure women ...Read More >
Kolkata [West Bengal], June 29 (ANI): Trinamool Congress on Sunday has issued a show cause notice to its party leader and Kamarhati MLA Madan Mitra following his 'unwanted, unnecessary, and insensitive comments' on the alleged gangrape of a law student from South Calcutta Law College in Kolkata's Kasba area on June 25. The notice, signed by West Bengal TMC President and Rajya Sabha MP Subrata Bakshi, demands an explanation within three days from Mitra for breaching party discipline, following his remarks on the incident that were widely criticised for victim-blaming. 'A very heinous and extr ...Read More >
Kolkata: Trinamool Congress on Sunday issued a show cause notice to its party leader and Kamarhati MLA Madan Mitra following his "unwanted, unnecessary, and insensitive comments" on the alleged gangrape of a law student from South Calcutta Law College in Kolkata's Kasba area on June 25. The notice, signed by West Bengal TMC President and Rajya Sabha MP Subrata Bakshi, demands an explanation within three days from Mitra for breaching party discipline, following his remarks on the incident that were widely criticised for victim-blaming. "A very heinous and extremely sad incident has taken plac ...Read More >
New Delhi [India], November 28 (ANI): India has expressed its concern over the escalating incidents of violence against Hindu minorities in Bangladesh and desecration, and damage to their places of worship, and has also called on the interim government there to ensure the safety of minorities. In a response to question asked by RJD MP AD Singh, Minister of State for Ministry of External Affairs, Kirit Vardhan Singh in a written reply to Rajya Sabha, stated that the "primary responsibility" for the protection of life and liberty of all citizens of Bangladesh, including minorities, "rests with ...Read More >
Kolkata/Bhubaneswar: Trinamool Krishnanagar MP Mahua Moitra tied the knot with former BJD MP Pinaki Misra on May 30 in a quiet ceremony in Berlin. The couple is expected to return to India by the end of June. After photographs of Moitra's wedding went viral on social media, the MP on Thursday evening posted on her X handle, "Thank you everyone for the love and good wishes!! So grateful."News of the wedding, kept under wraps for nearly a week, broke on social media with multiple photographs of the Berlin wedding. According to party sources, Moitra had informed the party leadership about her wed ...Read More >
New Delhi: Alleging "blatant misuse" of agencies to defame its leaders, AAP on Thursday questioned why the first information report filed against former Delhi ministers Saurabh Bharadwaj and Satyendar Jain was being kept under wraps and "selective" press notes were being leaked to the media.Bharadwaj, who is Delhi AAP convener, alleged that only two former ministers were named in the case without any reasonable cause while all the officers of the health and public works departments, who were actually responsible for executing the hospital projects, were spared. "Is the FIR so baseless that BJP ...Read More >
Guwahati (Assam) [India], June 28 (ANI): Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, on his visit to the Kamakhya temple in Guwahati on Saturday shared the development project aimed towards making the trip to the temple more accessible and time-efficient He said, "A ropeway will be constructed from Kamakhya station to Kamakhya temple and another ropeway will be constructed from Sonaram field to Kamakhya temple. Work on both ropeways is going on. The process of floating a tender has already been done. A feasibility study for many other ropeways is going on." The construction of both ropeways to ...Read More >
DHARMAPURI: For the third time in the past two months, a wild leopard wandered into a private farmland near Valaithottam village near Palacode and hunted chicken raised by a local farmer. Locals are increasingly distressed and urged the forest department to take steps to relocate the leopard. Over the past few months, there have been several reports of leopard sightings in forest areas near Palacode, particularly in Valaithottam village, near the forest's fringe. There have been two instances when the leopard attacked farmlands, taking away a domestic dog and a chicken. On Saturday, the leop ...Read More >
Kolkata: BJP on Saturday criticised urban development minister Firhad Hakim over a video where the Kolkata mayor is purportedly heard making a comment on minorities. Hakim had made the comment while addressing an educational conference recently. Hakim said BJP was using his quote out of context and he was only referring to the gulf between the educated and the uneducated. "As education spreads, the gulf will be bridged and there will be one identity," said Hakim. Saying that he would never play ...Read More >
Patna: BJP's West Bengal in charge and Bihar's health and law minister Mangal Pandey on Wednesday claimed that a three-member committee appointed by the Calcutta High Court had exposed the Mamata Banerjee govt and implicated Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders in the Murshidabad violence, in which three people, including a father-son duo, were brutally killed during protests against the waqf law last month.The committee, tasked with probing the Murshidabad incident, highlighted serious lapses by the ...Read More >
Kolkata, June 28: A political slugfest has erupted in West Bengal after a woman accused Padma Shree awardee monk Kartik Maharaj, who is posted with the Murshidabad unit of Bharat Sevashram Sangha, of allegedly raping her 12 times for six months in 2013. As per the police complaint lodged by the woman, Kartik Maharaj raped her multiple times 12 years ago promising her a job at a local school. The ruling Trinamool Congress is highlighting the issue in a major way and accusing the BJP of being silent on it since the accused monk had been reportedly close to the saffron party. The woman accusin ...Read More >
Ranchi: Two ministers -- Irfan Ansari (health) and Sanjay Yadav (industries) -- left for Delhi on Friday to oversee the health condition of JMM patriarch and Rajya Sabha MP Shibu Soren, who is currently admitted in Gangaram Hospital for the last few days.CM Hemant Soren, his MLA wife Kalpana and other family members continued to camp in Delhi. Several high-profile people like President Droupadi Murmu and Jharkhand governor Santosh Gangwar among others visited the hospital and checked on Shibu's health.Speaking for the first time on Friday since he left for Delhi, Hemant said, "Despite being Ra ...Read More >
Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], June 28 (ANI): Kolkata Police on Saturday arrested the guard of the South Calcutta Law College, where a female student was allegedly gang-raped. Kolkata police said, "Guard of the Law College, Pinaki Banerjee (55) has also been arrested in the case." Also Read | Kolkata Rape Case: Law College Student Gang Raped 'For Rejecting' Marriage Proposal From Prime Accused; Shocking Details Emerge. A female student was allegedly gang-raped inside the South Calcutta Law College in Kolkata's Kasba on Wednesday. Earlier, the police had arrested three accused within 24 hou ...Read More >
Mumbai, Jun 8 (PTI) Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Sunday said his party is ready to come together with anyone who will work to protect the interests of Maharashtra and Marathi manoos, his statement coming amid the rapprochement buzz between the Uddhav Thackeray-led party and Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). Talking to reporters here, Thackeray accused the BJP of "swallowing" Mumbai and Maharashtra. He said injustice is being meted out to Maharashtra by the BJP. "We have been saying this consistently. We are ready to work with anyone, any party that is ready to ...Read More >
Kolkata, Jun 26 (PTI) The ruling TMC of West Bengal has issued a show-cause notice to party MLA Humayun Kabir for visiting the family of a minor girl killed in a recent bomb blast in Nadia district and reportedly trying to offer them money without informing the party. Kabir, a former IPS officer and the legislator of the Debra in Paschim Medinipur district, said he visited the residence of the deceased in Kaliganj constituency on Wednesday not as a politician but as a representative of an NGO. The girl, 13-year-old Tamanna Khatoon, was killed on June 23 when a bomb exploded during a victory ...Read More >
New Delhi: The razing of a Durga temple in Dhaka's Khiliket area has cast a long shadow over India-Bangladesh ties, reviving questions about the safety of religious minorities in post-Hasina Bangladesh. With reports attributing the demolition to pressure from radical Islamist groups, the incident on Thursday represents a potential inflection point in India's foreign policy approach toward its eastern neighbour. "We understand that extremists were clamouring for demolishing the Durga temple in Khilkhet, Dhaka," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said during a regular media ...Read More >