WB chit fund scam: Saradha Group director admitted to hospital

Kolkata: Debjani Mukherjee, one of the main accused in the West Bengal chit fund scam, was on Wednesday once again admitted to the state-run SSKM hospital in Kolkata. Debjani, a close associate of Saradha Group chairman Sudipta Sen, was earlier on Tuesday admitted to SSKM hospital in Kolkata. Doctors say she is stable but is being kept under observation and will likely be released later on Wednesday. Earlier, she was...

WB: Mamata announces separate tribal affairs department

Kolkata: To ensure added importance to tribals in the state, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday announced a separate department of tribal affairs, which would be under her. "Tribal people have many grievances, but they don't know where to lodge complaints to draw attention immediately. Therefore, a separate tribal affairs department will be created just like the minority affairs department and it will remain under me," Banerjee told...

SEC agrees with WB government over district distribution

Kolkata: The State Election Commission on Tuesday agreed to the formula proposed by the West Bengal government for district wise holding of the panchayat elections in three phases and said the polls would be notified this week. "As of now, yes. We will issue the notification by this week," State Election Commissioner Mira Pandey said when asked whether the SEC has agreed to the 9-4-4 district distribution formula by the...

Saradha Group director admitted to hospital

Kolkata: Debjani Mukherjee, one of the main accused in the Saradha Ponzi scam, was on Tuesday admitted to the state-run SSKM hospital in Kolkata. "She has been admitted with certain complaints like weakness, reeling and scanty urination. She is under observation of the doctors and there is nothing serious regarding her health condition," a hospital source said. Earlier, she was admitted to a private hospital last week as she was...

Chit fund scam: Mukherjee sent to Judicial custody

Kolkata: Saradha Group director and close associate of Sudipta Sen, Debjani Mukherjee was on Monday remanded in judicial custody till May 31 by the Bidhanagar court. Mukherjee, who failed to present herself before the Bidhanagar Court a few days back due to ill health, was produced before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (Bidhannagar), who remanded her to judicial custody till May 31. Yesterday Sudipta Sen, chairman and managing director of...

Bengal textile policy will help sector grow, say chambers

Kolkata: With the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal coming up with a draft textile policy to attract investment to revive the sector, leading industry lobbies have expressed hope that the policy roadmap would help the industry to grow significantly. States like Maharashtra and Gujarat unveiled their new textile policies in 2012 to woo investors. "A policy was necessary. It will surely help Bengal's textile sector grow rapidly. The roadmap...

2 ISI agents, linkmen arrested in Darjeeling hills

Darjeeling: Two agents and two other linkmen of Pakistani spy agency ISI were arrested at Kurseong in Darjeeling district. "Two ISI agents identified as Maghan Bahadur Singh, a resident of Chotta Adalpur and Mesho Sauria, a resident of Panighatta Tea Estate were arrested on the charge of spying for ISI this afternoon," Superintendent of Police Kunal Agarwal told journalists at Kurseong police station. Two other ISI linkmen Gopal Khati of...

WB: Teacher sent to judicial custody for allegedly banging a student's head against the wall

Alipore: A lady teacher who was arrested for allegedly banging a class III student's head against a wall as punishment leading to his death was on Saturday remanded to 14 days judicial custody. Alipore ACJM, SM Shahnawaz, remanded Champa Mondal of the Nirdheshkhali Shishu Shiksha Kendra in South 24 Parganas district to judicial custody and she would be produced before the court again on June 1. Mondal allegedly banged the...

Woman mountaineer from West Bengal climbs Mt Everest

Kolkata: Woman mountaineer Chanda Gayen has successfully scaled the Mt Everest today, becoming the third woman from West Bengal to achieve the feat. A message from the base camp at Solo Khumbu in Nepal reaching here said Chanda, who started the last part of her journey for the summit from camp four at South Col on Friday night, followed the South East ridge route and reached the top at 7...

Chit fund scam: Sen remanded to judicial custody

Kolkata: West Bengal chit fund scam accused Sudipta Sen and Arvind Chauhan have been remanded to judicial custody till May 22. The court has reserved order on the third accused Debjani Mukherjee as she is in hospital. Mukherjee was admitted after complaining of stomach ailment. Meanwhile, Congress workers protested in Kolkata against TMC leader Kunal Ghosh, who is alleged to have links in the case. On Friday, the manager and...

WB: Child rights panel seeks report on student's death

Kolkata: The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has sought a report from West Bengal officials on the death of an eight-year-old student after he was allegedly assaulted by his teacher in class. The commission took up the matter after a report on CNN-IBN. The NCPCR has asked the South 24 Parganas district administration for a detailed report on the circumstances around the student's death. The eight-year-old, a...

WB: Student dies after teacher bangs his head against the wall

Kolkata: Alleged corporal punishment left an 8-year-old dead in South 24 Parganas in West Bengal. The student died after his head was allegedly banged against the wall by a teacher. The incident happened at the Nirdeshkhali school at Basanti in South 24 Parganas. The child was beaten up on May 15 as a punishment for throwing bags across the classroom during the class. The accused teacher has been arrested. More...

West Bengal government achieves 7.6 per cent GDP growth

Kolkata: The West Bengal government achieved 7.6 per cent growth in GDP compared to the national average of 4.96 per cent during the last financial year. In industry, the growth rate was 6.24 per cent against the national average of 3.12 per cent, Finance Minister Amit Mitra claimed while releasing three books on the completion of two years rule of Mamata Banerjee-led government on Thursday. In agriculture, the state recorded...

WB chit fund: Court defers CBI probe

Kolkata: Observing that "time has not come" for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the Saradha chit fund scam, the Calcutta High Court on Thursday refused to accept a plea in this regard but said it will consider it after fully hearing the matter. A bench of Justices AK Banerjee and MK Chowdhury, which on Thursday started hearing afresh a set of public interest litigations seeking a CBI...

WB panchayat polls: Differences between govt, EC continues

Kolkata: There were differences at a meeting on Thursday between the State Election Commission (SEC) and the West Bengal government over fixing dates for the three-tier panchayat elections after the Calcutta High Court's direction that the two mutually agree on it. "We suggested certain dates and they (state government) also placed some dates for the panchayat election to be held in three phases as per the High Court order," State...