West Bengal

Kolkata, Feb 25 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Thursday demanded immediate roll back of fuel prices by 50 per cent and threatened a strong movement if it was not done.

Banerjee who travelled to and back from the secretariat on a scooter as a mark of protest against fuel price hike, told reporters that it was a "mystery" why prices of petrol, diesel and LPG were not brought down in the country despite the decrease in international crude price by 50 per cent in recent times.

New Delhi, Feb 20 (PTI) Solar winds may have led to Mars losing its atmosphere, according to a computer simulation study which confirms the long held belief that planets need a protective magnetic field to block such harmful radiations in order to sustain life.

Kolkata, Feb 21 (PTI) Senior BJP leader Ram Madhav said that social media has become so powerful that it can even topple governments, leading to anarchy and weakening democracy, and solutions to tackle this are needed to be found within the constitutional framework.

Speaking at the launch of his new book 'Because India Comes First', Madhav said democracy is stressed and facing new challenges with the rise of "non-political" and "non-state" forces.

Kolkata, Feb 19 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to skip the Niti Aayog's governing council meeting to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 20, sources said on Friday.

The council, the apex body of the government's think tank, includes all chief ministers, lieutenant governors of Union Territories (UTs), several Union ministers and senior government officials.

Kolkata, Feb 19 (PTI) West Bengal minister Jakir Hossain, who was seriously injured in a bomb blast, is stable now, an official of the state-run hospital where he is undergoing treatment said on Friday.

Hossain, the minister of state for labour, was injured after unidentified attackers hurled a crude bomb at him at Nimtita railway station in Murshidabad district on Wednesday night.

Kolkata, Feb 15 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Monday condemned the arrest of 22-year-old climate activist Disha Ravi and said the BJP government should first take action against its own IT cell which, she alleged, is spreading fake news.

She also came down heavily on the BJP government at the Centre for the rise in the prices of LPG and fuel.

Raiganj (WB), Feb 10 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday mocked BJP leaders for travelling on raths "as if they are gods", and alleged that their political agenda is to create division in society on the basis of religion.

She also accused the saffron party of resorting to lies about Hinduism.

"Rath Yatra is a religious festival. All of us have participated in this festival. We know Lord Jagannath, Balaram and Goddess Subhadra travel in those chariots.

Kolkata, Feb 6 (PTI) West Bengal Finance minister Amit Mitra Saturday said the Centre is on a spree to impose cess and surcharges to deny the states from getting their share of revenues.

The Centre has increased cess and surcharges from eight to 16 per cent over and above the taxes so as not to share with the states, he told reporters here a day after the vote-on-account by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the state assembly.

Kolkata, Feb 7 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is unlikely to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi's scheduled programme at Haldia in Purba Medinipore district on Sunday evening, a top official at the state secretariat said.

The exact reason for this uncertainty has not been specified, but the "insult meted out to her" on January 23, when Jai Shri Ram' slogans were raised at an event just before her speech, could be the cause, he said.

Alipurduar/Hooghly (WB), Feb 3 (PTI) The TMC and the BJP hit out at each other on Wednesday in poll-bound West Bengal over defections with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee saying it was ironical that the Centre did not have funds to bear the travel expenses of migrant workers but corrupt leaders were flown to Delhi in a chartered plane.

Newly inducted BJP leader Rajib Banerjee, who quit TMC and was among those who took the chartered flight, slammed her for levelling allegations of corruption against him.