Archives for 2021

She was administered the oath by Governor Jagdeep Dhankar at a low key swearing-in ceremony in Raj Bhavan, Kolkata.

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday took oath as the Chief Minister of West Bengal.

She was administered the oath by Governor Jagdeep Dhankar at a low key swearing-in ceremony in Raj Bhavan, Kolkata.

Apart from senior TMC leaders like Partha Chatterjee and Subrata Mukherjee, poll strategist Prashant Kishor, who played a key role in TMC’s victory, and Banerjee MP nephew Abhishek Banerjee were present.

She said her first priority after resuming office will be to tackle the COVID-19 situation.

Banerjee becomes India’s only female chief minister currently serving. 

Evenhtough, She lost her battle against former aide Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram, the TMC sealed a bigger mandate than in 2016 in the state. 

The BJP emerged as the main opposition party with 77 seats under its belt, while incumbent TMC has won 213 of the 292 seats where polling was held in eight phases in March and April.

PATNA: Lockdown was imposed in Bihar till May 15 amid the surge in COVID-19 cases, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced on Tuesday.

The decision was taken on Monday after discussions with ministers and government officials, he added.

With 11,407 more COVID cases Bihar breached the five lakh-mark of infections Monday, while 82 fresh fatalities pushed the death toll to 2821 in the state, health department bulletin said.

The caseload of the state went up to 5,09,047, with capital Patna being the worst-hit.

Out of 82 new deaths, Patna accounted for 24 casualties while Muzaffarpur reported 13 fatalities, Madhepura (6) and West Champaran (5).

Among the 11,407 new cases, Patna’s share was 2028, the health bulletin said.

Other major COVID-hit districts are Gaya with 662 cases, Muzaffarpur (653) and Begusarai (510).

Meanwhile, sources in the East Central Railway (ECR) zone said that a total of 4654 staff have tested positive so far while 123 of them have succumbed to the virus.

There are 80,000 employees working in the Hazipur- based ECR which comprises of five Railway divisions-Danapur, Sonepur, Samastipur, Dhanbad and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya.

In the second wave, a total of 556 staff engaged in operation including loco pilots, their assistant and guards who play an important role in running of trains have contracted infection, the sources said.

The sources said that out of the 2161 active cases in the ECR, there are 230 loco pilots, 229 assistant loco pilots, 194 guards and 230 station masters.

A total of 13,603 COVID patients recovered in last 24 hours, where overall 3,98,558 people have been cured so far.

The state has a recovery rate of 78.29 per cent.

Total 72,658 samples were tested since Sunday while over 2.66 crore clinical examinations for the virus have been conducted since the start.

There are 1,07,667 active caseload in Bihar at present.

On the vaccination front, 72,658 beneficiaries were administered jabs Monday while a total of 74,18,981 people have been inoculated in the 45-plus age group till the date.

The state is yet to start vaccination for 18 plus population due to non-availability of the additional stock.

VARANASI: After second extesion of lockdown-like curfew in Uttar Pradesh on Monday amid rising COVD-19 cases and deaths in the state, weavers in Varanasi said they are facing financial loss due to the pandemic.

Banarasi saari weavers said they are now planning to cease the production of saaris as they feel there is no demand for their production since all weddings and other functions which triggered demand for their product shall now remain suspended due to the disease.

“We are unhappy with the fact that when there was an election, all the people gathered around and rallied. Not only this, lakhs of people were allowed to bathe during the Kumbh mela in Haridwar. But now that the wedding season has come, the government is trying to impose a full curfew,” said a weaver.

He further said, “Marriages and and other such celebrations were our sole source of income. But now for the past one year, the country has been struggling with the Corona crisis and the government has ordered to limit social ceremonies including marriages. COVID-induced lockdown has ruined our businesses. It is very difficult for us now to make our ends meet.”

Amid the spike in the COVID-19 cases across the state, the Uttar Pradesh government on Monday announced the extension of the partial lockdown till May 7.

According to an order issued by Additional Chief Secretary Navneet Sehgal, the partial ‘corona curfew’ imposed in Uttar Pradesh has been extended till 7 am on May 6.

The restrictions were slated to be lifted on Tuesday (May 4) morning. This is the second extension of lockdown-like curfew in the country’s most populous state.

The restrictions will continue as earlier and markets, shopping malls, and restaurants will remain shut.

The government has advised people to remain indoors and only those involved in essential services will be exempted from the restrictions. Medical shops and hospitals will remain open during the lockdown. Religious places will also remain closed, as per the order.

According to official data, Uttar Pradesh reported 30,857 new COVID cases and 288 deaths on Sunday while the number of active cases stood at 2,95,752.

The Supreme Court said media is a powerful watchdog in democracy and cannot be stopped from reporting any court hearing.

NEW DELHI:  The Supreme Court on Monday said media is a powerful watchdog in democracy and cannot be stopped from reporting any court hearing.

The observation came on the Election Commission’s plea challenging the Madras High Court’s sharp remarks warning its officials could be hauled up for murder for not strictly enforcing Covid norms in the run up to the recent Assembly elections

“We cannot say that media will not report the discussion that takes place in court. The discussion that takes place is in as much public interest as the final order of the court. The discussion in court is a dialogue between the Bar and the bench. Media is a very powerful watchdog in protecting the sanctity of this process,” a bench headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud said.

The bench asked the EC to take HC’s observations in the right spirit.

Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi appearing for the EC, said, “Harsh criticism is welcome, but certain observations should not have been made.”

Justice Chandrachud said, “Speaking for myself, I would not have used the words of Madras High Court.” The bench later reserved its order. 

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said the only way to stop the spread of coronavirus now was a full lockdown with the protection of minimum income guarantee scheme, NYAY, for the vulnerable sections.

“GOI’s inaction is killing many innocent people,” he said.

The Congress has been asserting that the central and state governments move to control the situation by resorting to partial curfews, travel restrictions, closure and lockdowns will again be restricting economic activity that will hit the poor and, therefore, it was imperative to provide monthly income support.

Gandhi has been pushing for the implementation of the party’s proposed Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY) providing minimum income guarantee to vulnerable sections.

The Congress have been critical of the government’s response to the COVID-19 crisis.

India’s total tally of COVID-19 cases crossed the 2-crore mark with 3,57,229 infections being reported in a day, while the death toll increased to 2,22,408 with 3,449 new fatalities, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.

By bagging 18 Lok Sabha seats two years ago, the BJP created a perception that it was coming to power in Bengal.

KOLKATA:  The soaring-up graph of BJP’s vote-share since 2011 in West Bengal received a jolt in 2021 Assembly elections as the saffron camp’s electoral vote share dipped from 40.7% to 38.13% secured during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

But the party’s momentum received a massive blow as it bagged victory in only 77 Assembly seats, which falls short of 44 seats comparing to the saffron camp’s peak performance in the 2019 elections.

In 2011, BJP had a thin vote-share of 4.06% which had jumped to more than 40% in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Elaborating on the possibilities behind the drop in BJP’s vote-share, the leader pointed out the party’s strategy of welcoming all TMC turncoats without scanning their background might be responsible.

‘’We were gaining strength in West Bengal riding anti-TMC sentiment. People were supporting us against TMC’s misrule and atrocities. When these section of electorates showing allegiance to the BJP found their tormentors in the same camp and being fielded in the Assembly elections, they decided not to support us. Rather, they possibly voted for th TMC to ensure defeat of the turncoats,’’ he explained.

Citing another example, the leader said the saffron camp started performing impressively in Dalits dominated Junglemahal area since 2018 pandhayat elections. “But we received a jolt in the region because the TMC turncoats who were elected in local civic bodies failed to deliver,” he added.