1. Internet Banned In Asansol Till 17 April
The West Burdwan administration has suspended Internet in the Asansol subdivision till Wednesday midnight to prevent rumours on social media in the wake of violence at Barakar on Monday.
Police have conducted nightlong raids and arrested 10 persons in connection with the clash that broke out over a Ram Navami procession.
On Tuesday, the district administration extended till 17 April Section 144 of the CrPC in Barakar to prevent unlawful assembly and stopped all Ram Navami rallies in the area.
(Source: The Telegraph)
2. Bengal, UP Hold Key to New Govt: Mamata Banerjee
Mamata Banerjee said on Tuesday that Uttar Pradesh and Bengal would hold the key to the formation of the new central government as she sought to take the fight against the BJP to a wider canvas.
The Bengal chief minister gave a state-wise estimate of Lok Sabha seats that the BJP would win and said the party would be far from the figure required to form the government.
(Source: The Telegraph)
3. HC to Hear Gurung Plea Next Week
Calcutta High Court’s circuit bench here on Tuesday decided to hear anticipatory bail pleas of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leaders Bimal Gurung and Roshan Giri on 25 and 26 April.
The division bench of Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Suvra Ghosh heard submissions by the lawyers of the duo and the Bengal government.
The court then decided that the hearing would be conducted on 25 and 26 April 25.
The bail petitions were filed in two police cases in connection with the violent statehood agitation in the Darjeeling hills in 2017.
(Source: The Telegraph)
4. Bangladeshi Actor Ferdous Ahmed Told to Leave India After Poll Show
Bangladeshi actor Ferdous Ahmed left Kolkata on Tuesday after getting notices from both the Union ministry of home affairs and the Bangladesh deputy high commission following a controversy over his campaigning for Trinamool Congress Raiganj candidate Kanaia Lal Agarwal this Sunday.
The MHA also sought a report from the Bengal government and the local Foreigner Regional Registration Office, prompting an FRRO probe into whether the actor had violated work visa rules. “The MHA has asked the actor to leave India,” a senior FRRO official said. “Ahmed left the country this afternoon,” he added.
(Source: The Times Of India)
5. Left Crowd-Funding a Hit In Raiganj
As campaigning ended for the Raiganj Lok Sabha constituency at 6 pm on Tuesday, it also brought the curtains down on Bengal’s only crowd-funding initiative launched by CPM’s Md Salim to meet election expenses.
Speaking to TOI, Salim said: “There are many wellwishers and friends who wanted to contribute to my campaign. Since I’ve been out of the city for quite some time, there was no way that they could help me with voluntary donations. Hence, towards the end of the first week of April, I had put my bank account number, which was opened for the elections with State Bank of India, on social networking sites so that anyone who wanted to contribute for campaigning could do so.”
(Source: The Times Of India)
6. 195 Units Of Central Forces For Bengal Phase 2
Two days before Darjeeling, Raiganj and Jalpaiguri go to polls on 18 April, the Election Commission decided to deploy central forces at an additional 788 polling premises in all three constituencies.
A bulk of this deployment will be in Raiganj and the rest in the foothills of Darjeeling — 195 companies will man Phase 2 voting in the three constituencies. The Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bangladesh borders have also been sealed and will reopen on the evening of 18 April.
EC on Tuesday sanctioned yet another central force company, taking the total deployment to 195 companies for the three constituencies: 83 in Darjeeling, 63 in Raigan and the rest in Jalpaiguri.
(Source: The Times Of India)
7. Auto Horror: Kid Survives After Being Thrown Off On Busy Road
Vedant Todi, a Class VIII student of St Xavier’s Collegiate School, was heading to a Salt Lake restaurant with his mother in an auto when it toppled on Monday afternoon. The boy sustained deep injury in his left leg. Admitted to ILS Hospital in Salt lake, the 13-year-old recounts his horror from the hospital bed.
Every now and then, I read about people falling victim to reckless driving. I have come across newspaper reports — specially TOI — on people losing a limb, a finger or a toe in road accidents. These incidents would anger me and stir my thoughts on why these rogue drivers get into such dangerous driving.
(Source: The Times Of India)