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 Election Commissioner Mira Pandey told reporters after the meeting.
"Finally, the state government will inform the dates for the panchayat poll," Pandey said. The Calcutta High Court in its May 14 direction had asked the state government to announce the poll dates in consultation with the SEC. The commissioner said, preliminary discussions were held on deployment of forces for the polls.
"More discussions will follow," she said. To a question, Pandey said that a suggestion was made for an all-party meeting to discuss the details of the polls. State government officials were not available for comment. ...
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06:10 PM, May 16, 2013
CNN-IBN's Principal Correspondent Priyanka Gupta joined IBNLive readers for an interaction on the West Bengal chit fund scam. Q. Is this because Trinamool is in limelight right now while in other states such scams with thousands of crores are generally brushed under the carpet like in UP or in Karnataka where direct govt role or big corporates are involved. Asked by: Ravi A. I am not too sure if it...
07:13 PM, Apr 22, 2013
Student activist Sudipto Gupta died in a police crackdown on a students' protest in Kolkata. The incident has seen thousands of people pour into the streets of Kolkata. The West Bengal government has been, till now, non-committal about a proper probe into the incident. To what extent will this incident turn the urban middle class in West Bengal against the ruling Trinamool Congress? Will a proper probe be instituted? How...
07:06 PM, Apr 04, 2013
The death of a 23-year-old SFI activist, Sudipto Gupta, has sparked a row in Kolkata. Sudipto was fatally injured allegedly by the police in a crackdown on Tuesday. The police has claimed he fell off a bus but his fellow activists allege that the police hit him on the head in the bus. Senior journalist and columnist Sunanda K Datta-Ray joined IBNLive readers for an interaction on the matter. ...
05:02 PM, Apr 03, 2013
The Bengali film 'Kangal Malsat' is based on the anarchist novel of Nabarun Bhattacharya and explores the dark underbelly of a city which fights the state power. The part real, part surreal narrative has been made into a movie which has been denied clearance by the Kolkata chapter of Central Board of Film Certification for allegedly being disrespectful towards Stalin and Mamata Banerjee and containing expletives and abusive words. Is...
05:39 PM, Feb 27, 2013
The literary and film community on February 1 came out in support of controversial author Salman Rushdie and blamed the West Bengal government for cancellation of his visit to the metropolis. "If a world-renowned writer is unable to come to Kolkata, then it is extremely unfortunate," Magsaysay award-winning author Mahasweta Devi said. ...
06:51 PM, Feb 01, 2013
The Centre on Friday accused the West Bengal government of creating hurdles in the East-West Metro Corridor project. The state government has withdrawn a petition pertaining to land acquisition on a particular stretch in the metro project from the Kolkata High Court and has advocated a change in the alignment. ...
05:06 AM, Jan 05, 2013
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday issued a notice to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on a petition that challenged the appointment of Dr Sukumar Mukherjee, who was earlier convicted in a medical negligence case, as the chief advisor to the state government on health issues. Earlier, the Calcutta High Court had deleted that name of the Trinamool Congress chief from the petition. A petition in this regard...
12:43 PM, Oct 19, 2012
Kolkata: Failing to elicit adequate response from banks and other financial institutions to invest in its proposed financial hub at New Town on the city's northern periphery, the West Bengal government is considering offering a fresh package. "We are ready to offer a fresh package, if Expressions of Interest (EOIs) are not received for all plots within October 31, the last date for its submission", state urban development minister Firhad...
09:20 PM, Oct 08, 2012
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday alleged corruption in the erstwhile Left Front government and said that many files were missing for which FIRs should be lodged. Speaking at a Trinamool Congress youth rally in Kolkata, Banerjee said that Finance Minister Amit Mitra had sent her a file which pointed to this. "Wherever theft has occurred, the related files are not traceable." She said she told Mitra...
08:48 PM, Aug 25, 2012
New Delhi: In a relief for the West Bengal government, Supreme Court on Friday stayed the Calcutta High Court judgement which had struck down Singur act as unconstitutional. The Supreme Court sought response of Tata Motors on a special leave petition filed by the West Bengal government challenging the quashing of the Singur Land Acquisition Act by the state high court. Earlier, the Calcutta High Court had held the Singur...
11:42 AM, Aug 24, 2012
Kolkata: The West Bengal government on Friday pleaded ignorance about the complaint made by Asiad gold medalist Pinki Pramanik of atrocities inflicted on her in custody and demand for justice, as the Opposition's move to raise the issue in the Assembly was rejected on the ground of it being sub-judice. "I have not received anything from Pinki Pramanik's family, nor from any sports organisation. Nobody has talked to me or...
04:45 PM, Jul 06, 2012
Kolkata: Upset over various incidents ranging from the Park Street rape case to attack on human rights organisations, intellectuals of Kolkata, including a Trinamool Congress MP, on Thursday hit the streets in protest against the 11-month-old Trinamool regime in the state. "There are lots of differences between the old Mamata Banerjee and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The people of this state have thrown away those who have tried to throttle...
08:12 PM, Apr 12, 2012
Kolkata: The West Bengal government has been contemplating amendment to the present Panchayat Act, 1973, to remove some lacunae in it. "We think there are some lacunae in the present Act and in view of this, we are considering amendment to the Panchayat Act, 1973," state's Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee told reporters at Writers' Buildings. Incidentally, Mukherjee was the Panchayat minister in the SS Ray cabinet in 1973 when the...
08:24 PM, Mar 28, 2012
Kolkata: The West Bengal government's move to extend the national grid to the Sundarbans delta for electrifying villages has come in for criticism from environmentalists. "The land is soft and setting up large and heavy transmission poles may lead to greater erosion, and change the tidal patterns when installed in rivers and creeks," SP Gon Chaudhuri, former director of West Bengal Green Energy Development Corporation Limited (WBGEDCL), told PTI. These...
12:24 PM, Mar 02, 2012
Kolkata: West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra on Monday said the cash-strapped government has not received Rs 8,000 crore, as claimed by the Centre. Disputing Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi's claim that the state has been extended this amount, Mitra said at a press conference, "The claim is absolutely incorrect. So far not a single paise has been received as part of a central relief package. Perhaps he is ill-informed"....
06:24 PM, Feb 06, 2012
Kolkata: West Bengal Government on Thursday declared 730 days Child Care Leave (CCL) for working mothers employed by the state government, apart from their scheduled maternity leaves, during their entire service career. "This revolutionary decision has been taken in the state cabinet meeting today. The entire holiday will be with pay", state's Industry and Commerce Minister Partha Chatterjee told reporters. With this decision, working mothers employed by the state government...
11:30 PM, Jan 19, 2012
Kolkata: Three weeks after the directors of Kolkata's AMRI Hospital were taken into custody after a fire in the hospitals basement claimed 89 lives, industry body FICCI has slammed the arrest of 7 hospital directors as anti-industry, and not 'completely non-discriminatory'. In a strongly worded statement, FICCI demanded the immediate release of those who were not responsible in the day-to-day operations of the business. It said it would prevent the...
10:12 AM, Jan 03, 2012
Kolkata: The West Bengal Health Department, after health officials visited the main wing of the AMRI Hospital on Tuesday, instructed the Dhakuria wing of the hospital, where over 90 people killed in fire, to stop admitting new patients in the main wing as well. The main building was still in operation after the Annexe building was sealed after Friday's fire. This, in effect, means that the state government has cancelled...
09:51 PM, Dec 13, 2011
Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court is expected to pronounce its verdict on a plea filed by Tata Motors challenging the constitutional validity of the Singur Land rehabilitation act. The Supreme Court, on an appeal from Tata Motors, had stayed distribution of the land of the disputed factory site until further orders from the High Court. The judgement is scheduled to be passed at 10:30 am by the court of Justice...
07:49 AM, Sep 28, 2011
