New Delhi: The West Bengal government's decision to take over two channels owned by scam-tainted Saradha Group which were facing closure may hit the roadblock as present guidelines do not allow state governments to run TV channels. "At present no proposal has come to us from the state government but as per the present set of guidelines state governments are not allowed to run television channels," a senior Information & Broadcasting Ministry official said.
"States are not companies which be running channels. As per the rules to be into broadcasting, the entity in question has to be registered as a company," the official added. The official also said that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had earlier in their recommendations strongly held that governments should not be allowed to enter into broadcasting.
The ministry has in the past rejected proposals from at least three state governments - Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat - related to entry into broadcasting and distribution activities. Earlier on Thursday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced her government's decision to take over the two channels - Tara News and Tara Muzic - following an appeal by their employees seeking government intervention.
She said that 168 employees of the channels would get an ex-gratia of Rs 16,000 each from this month and the state government would provide Rs 26 lakh from the chief minister's relief fund on humanitarian grounds to run the channels. However, it would not take the liability of
08:43 PM, May 24, 2013
Kolkata: The Left Front on Thursday asked Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to respond to allegations by a senior West Bengal IPS officer about "corrupt practices" when she was the railway minister. "Serious allegations of corruption have been levelled by a senior and respected IPS officer from the state. We don't to want question her (Banerjee) integrity. But to keep that image intact the chief minister must come out with an...
04:26 AM, May 24, 2013
Kolkata: The West Bengal government has acquired two television channels - Tara Muzik and Tara News - which were previously owned by the Saradha Group. The two channels had to be shut down following the Saradha chit-fund crisis. Announcing the decision, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told reporters at Writers' Buildings that the decision was taken following appeal by employees of Tara News and Tara Muzic channels for government intervention. The...
05:11 PM, May 23, 2013
Kolkata: It has been a month since Sharada chit fund scam accused Sudipta Sen was arrested. The scam has driven at least eight people to suicide, lakhs of investors lost their life savings and hundreds of agents have fled their homes. An SIT to probe the case was announced and a Rs 500-crore package was announced. But one month on, questions are being raised about the pace of investigation and...
11:29 AM, May 23, 2013
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...
02:36 PM, May 22, 2013
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced on Tuesday that the government would ban online lottery "Online lotto". The necessary notification regarding the issue will be issued soon, she said. Describing "Online Lotto" as a social problem, she said it led to fights between family members. "Online Lotto was started during the Left Front rule. It has ceased now. But today I am officially announcing a ban on such...
07:47 AM, May 22, 2013
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...
02:49 AM, May 22, 2013
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...
02:01 AM, May 22, 2013
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...
10:49 PM, May 21, 2013
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...
11:03 PM, May 20, 2013
Kolkata: After two years of rule, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appears to have squandered the overwhelming mandate voters gave her, but as West Bengal gears up for panchayat polls, it seems that the TMC has the advantage as the Left is yet to regroup. Rattled by the Saradha meltdown and a spate of suicides, Trinamool faces the uphill task of addressing cries of lakhs of anguished investors and agents. With...
07:59 AM, May 20, 2013
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...
04:54 AM, May 20, 2013
New Delhi: In a run up to the Lok Sabha elections, BJP President Rajnath Singh on Sunday reorganised the party's poll machinery. Rajnath made Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's close aide Amit Shah in charge of the party's affairs in key state Uttar Pradesh. Shah will be assisted by party members Trivendra Singh Rawat, Rameshwer Chaurasiya and Satyendra Kushwaha. The BJP President also made Varun Gandhi in charge of the...
07:41 PM, May 19, 2013
Burdwan: West Bengal Agriculture Minister Malay Ghatak on Saturday said he has received a letter threatening to kill him and his family unless he resigned from the Cabinet and quit Trinamool Congress. "I saw the letter this evening. It was sent by post from Kharagpur in West Midnapore district on May 13 by N Rama Rao of Indian People's Liberation Army," Ghatak told reporters. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the...
07:59 AM, May 19, 2013
Kolkata: Bringing out an assessment report of West Bengal's Trinamool Congress government, two days before it completes two years in office, the Congress on Saturday alleged that the regime was moving in a negative direction and was clueless about the course it wanted the state's economy to take. "We do not expect that within two years, they will be able to change the face of the state but the direction...
05:20 AM, May 19, 2013
Kolkata: The West Bengal State Election Commission on Saturday wrote to the state government seeking a change in the schedule for the panchayat polls and the bunching of districts in each phase. The state government had issued a notification on Friday proposing three-phase polls. Nine districts are to go to the hustings July 2, and four each July 6 and July 10. The SEC's latter has sought a regrouping of...
04:15 AM, May 19, 2013
New Delhi: A Delhi-based couple was arrested from Kolkata for duping several banks by forging documents, police said Saturday. Kamal Kishore Shukla, 60, and his wife Shashi Shukla, 53 were arrested on May 15 from Kolkata. The duo had obtained housing loans from different banks against a single property in Vaishali area of Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad, adjoining Delhi, with the help of fake documents and had even sold the same...
11:26 PM, May 18, 2013
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...
04:23 PM, May 18, 2013
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...
10:21 AM, May 18, 2013
Kolkata: Opposition parties in West Bengal on Friday demanded deployment of central paramilitary forces in an all-party meeting convened by the State Election Commission to ensure proper, free and fair panchayat elections. "We need adequate protection for candidates and the voters though every state of the polls - filing of nomination, campaigning, polling day as also counting. The ground situation is not conducive for that. In various local elections across...
04:47 AM, May 18, 2013
