The Statesman Kolkata - December 21, 2024

In this issue

December 21, 2024

India lodges protest with Dhaka over social media post of Bangladesh chief adviser's aide

India has registered a strong protest with Bangladesh over the recent comments made in a social media post by Mahfuz Alam, a close aide of Bangladesh Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, in which he reportedly threatened to capture parts of India on 'Vijay Diwas', the day that marks India's victory over Bangladesh in the 1971 war.

1 min

Speaker warns of action over protests on Parl premises

Both Houses of Parliament adjourned sine die amid escalating tensions

2 mins

AP woman receives parcel with decomposed body

A woman in Andhra Pradesh who was expecting a consignment containing electrical appliances for her home received a wooden crate containing a partially decomposed body and a threat letter demanding Rs 1.3 crore.

1 min

TMC to hold protest rallies on Monday against Shah's Ambedkar remarks

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, in a statement, accused the BJP of systematically demolishing the country's constitutional ethos and \"tearing apart the democratic values and the principles that bind the Indians as a nation\"

1 min

Intensify efforts against anti-India elements

Union Home Minister Amit Shah today urged the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) to intensify its efforts to identify and take action against anti-India elements operating along the Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bhutan borders.

1 min

Delhi raises with Washington Pannun's threat to Indian envoy

India has raised with the United States the threat issued by Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun to Indian Ambassador to the USA, Vinay Mohan Kwatra and hoped Washington will take New Delhi's security concerns seriously. \"We take the threats very seriously and we raise it with the US government. In this case, also, we have raised it with the US government and it is our expectation that the US government will take our security concerns seriously,\"

1 min

Aadhaar card selling: Two arrested in Purbasthali

Police sealed a Cyber Cafe on charges of selling Aadhaar cards for cash in Purbasthali in Kalna today.

1 min

SSB's role crucial in Darjeeling Hills, says MP Raju Bista

Highlighting the deep ties between India, Nepal, and Bhutan, Mr Bista said that the connection between their nations goes beyond political alliances

1 min

Protest erupts in Siliguri against Amit Shah

As Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited Siliguri to attend the Sashastra Seema Bal's Raising Day celebrations, the CPI (ML) Liberation, Siliguri Local Committee, staged a protest at Hashmi Chowk demanding his resignation and an apology for allegedly disrespecting Babasaheb Ambedkar in Parliament.

1 min

Siliguri Tourism Fair to be held till 22 December

The officials of Blue Eye India Pvt. Ltd. announced the commencement of the Siliguri Tourism Fair 2024 at City Centre, Siliguri, from 20 to 22 December.

1 min

Migratory birds flock to water bodies at Haripal

The water bodies at Koikala, Haripal, are now teeming with activity as migratory birds arrive.

2 mins

Body of maid found hanging in Durgapur village

The hanging body of a 24-year-old maid was recovered from the house of a retired school teacher, sparking a sensation in a village in Durgapur this morning.

1 min

Fund utilisation: Minister scolds Kalna Pradhans

Minister Swapan Debnath pulled up the Pradhans and the Upa Pradhans of nine Panchayats in Kalna today for failing to spend development funds.

1 min

Metro Railway holds Inter Railway Cultural Competition (Music) 2024

The Metro Railway hosted the Inter Railway Cultural Competition (Music) 2024 between 17 and 18 December at the Belgachia Auditorium.

1 min

TMC MPs stage protest against HM Shah at Prerna Sthal, demand apology over his remarks

Trinamul Congress (TMC) MPs on Friday protested against the remarks of Union Home Minister Amit Shah's remarks on Ambedkar.

2 mins

Bengal school job case: CBI seeks Calcutta HC's permission to replace head of probe team

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday approached the Calcutta High Court seeking permission to replace the current head of its special investigation team (SIT) probing the multi-crore cash-for-school job case but was asked to move the apex court.

1 min

ED gets clues on how scam proceeds were diverted as donations to trusts

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has identified a new angle of money laundering in the multi-crore cash-for-school job case in West Bengal where a major part of the proceeds was diverted and shown as donations to certain charitable trusts.

1 min

Bengal passport racket: Cops trying to track PDS dealers acting as roots of creating fake documents

Officials of investigating agencies probing the rackets engaged in arranging fake Indian passports for illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, are now trying to track the roots of this menace in a section of public distribution system (PDS) dealers in West Bengal.

1 min

RKM spent ₹1,292 crore on social welfare in 2023-24

The Ramakrishna Mission spent Rs 1,292 crore on social welfare, education, and rural development in 2023-24.

1 min

HC allows sit-in demonstration by doctors at Metro Channel on RG Kar issue

While issuing the formal order, the court imposed several conditions on the doctors' group for organising its protest programme in the heart of the city.

2 mins

Devastating fire engulfs Topsia slum, over 100 shanties destroyed

It is suspected that many people are still trapped in the slum, and efforts are ongoing by the fire brigade and police to rescue them

2 mins

Adani Group to invest ₹20,000 crore for thermal power plant in Bihar

The Adani Group has planned to invest Rs 20,000 crore in setting up a super critical thermal power plant in Bihar.

1 min

Fadnavis faces opposition ire after Maharashtrian family gets assaulted

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced in the Maharashtra Legislative Council on Friday that senior Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) official Akhikesh Shukla, whose goons allegedly assaulted his Maharashtrian neighbours with iron rods in a suburban Kalyan-based housing society, has been suspended from his job with immediate effect.

1 min

2 troopers injured in IED blast

Two security personnel were injured on Friday after an improvised explosive device allegedly planted by Maoists detonated in Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh.

1 min

'Oppn should raise issues by following rules instead of disrupting Parliament'

The winter session provided 20 sittings of Lok Sabha and 19 sittings of Rajya Sabha spreading over 26 days

2 mins

Eight burnt to death, 50 injured in LPG tanker truck explosion in Jaipur

At least eight people were killed and around 50 sustained serious burns when a LPG tanker exploded with a big bang after collision with a truck near Bhankrota on the outskirts of the city Friday morning.

1 min

SC seeks TN's response on plea for recall of bail order of Senthil Balaji

The Supreme Court on Friday sought response from the Tamil Nadu government on a plea seeking to recall its 26 September 2024 judgment granting bail to the State Minister Senthil Balaji in an alleged money-laundering case relating to the cash-for-jobs scam.

1 min

KTR gets relief from HC till 30 December

In a relief to BRS working president KT Rama Rao Friday, the Telangana High Court passed an interim order protecting him from arrest till 30 December in the Formula E race scam after he filed a lunch motion petition to quash the proceedings against him following an FIR registered by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).

1 min

Jal Shakti minister calls for consensus on river interlinking projects

Minister for Jal Shakti C R Patil asked the states to evolve a consensus on their respective river interlinking projects for the progress in the development of the country.

1 min

'Nadda equating Purvanchalis with Bangladeshis'

AP supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Friday accused BJP chief J P Nadda of equating Purvanchalis with Rohingyas and Bangladeshis, and also deleting their names from voters' lists ahead of the Delhi Assembly polls.

1 min

How climate change has hit our kitchens

The optimism we've employed in every climate Conference of Parties (COP) over the last decade following the Paris Agreement to cut global carbon emissions by 45 percent from 2010 levels by 2030 has only dwindled and proven naive.

2 mins

Policy balance

The ethnic tensions in Manipur between the Kuki-Zo tribes and the Meitei community have brought the state's governance under intense scrutiny.

4 mins

Rebuilding pillars of a relationship

The newly elected Sri Lankan President, Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD), made his first official overseas visit to India.

4 mins

People's needs drove me

ajendra Singh, fondly called \"Paani Baba\" (waterman), is an acclaimed water conservationist. He is credited with bringing back water adequacy to villages, apart from fighting against illegal mining and taking up the cause of clean Ganga and Yamuna rivers.

3 mins

House rejects Trump-backed plan on government shutdown, leaving next steps uncertain

A day before a potential government shutdown, the House resoundingly rejected President-elect Donald Trump's new plan Thursday to fund operations and suspend the debt ceiling, as Democrats and dozens of Republicans refused to accommodate his sudden demands.

1 min

Russian missiles target Kyiv after Ukraine fires US-made missiles across the border

A Russian ballistic missile attack on Ukraine's capital Kyiv early Friday killed at least one person and injured nine others, officials said.

1 min

Canada's Justin Trudeau will shuffle his Cabinet as he faces calls to resign and rising discontent

Embattled Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will shuffle his Cabinet Friday.

1 min

International students urged to return to US campuses before Trump inauguration

A growing number of U.S. colleges and universities are advising international students to return to campus before President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated, over concerns that he might impose travel bans like he did during his first administration.

1 min

US diplomats in Syria on first visit since Assad ouster

The team is also the first group of American diplomats to formally visit Syria in more than a decade

2 mins

Official says Wisconsin shooter was new student at Christian school where her victims had deep ties

The Wisconsin 15-year-old who shot and killed a teacher and a fellow student Monday was only in her first semester at the school but seemed to be settling in, a school official said Thursday as families of the victims remembered them as people of faith who had deep connections within the Christian school.

1 min

S. Korean investigators seek to question reluctant Yoon

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials said it plans to question Yoon on charges of abuse of authority and orchestrating a rebellion

1 min

Malaysia agrees to resume 'no find, no fee' hunt for flight MH370, 10 years after plane disappeared

Malaysia’s government has agreed in principle to accept a second “no find, no fee” proposal from a US company to renew the hunt for flight MH370, which is believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean more than 10 years ago, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said Friday.

1 min

Urban sector investments in India surge 16-fold: Centre

The investments in the urban sector in India have increased 16-fold as the government aims to achieve the 'Viksit Bharat' goal by 2047, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs said on Friday.

1 min

We have been empowering MSMEs by providing accessible, innovative and customized financial solution

Founded in 1911, Central Bank of India, the first Indian commercial bank, traversed a long way, to become what it is today - 'a great bank' with presence in Bengal, Sikkim, Port Blair with a wide network of 332 branches, 7 regional offices.

4 mins

Environmental protection during mining remains core focus area for PSUs: Coal Minister

Environmental protection during mining activities remains a core focus area for coal and lignite Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), said Union Minister of Coal and Mines G. Kishan Reddy.

1 min

'Non-tariff barriers impeding trade': Piyush Goyal to EU Trade Commissioner

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, in a conversation with European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, underlined that non-tariff barriers were impeding trade and emphasized the need to address long pending issues as a confidence-building measure.

1 min

Market records steepest weekly declines in over two years

At close, Sensex ended near the 78,000 mark, shedding 1.5 pc from the previous session

1 min

Piyush Goyal calls for 100% integration onto govt platforms to improve logistics sector

Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Piyush Goyal called for a 100% integration of industry stakeholders onto the Government platforms to improve the logistics sector.

1 min

India now has 25,202 public charging stations for EVs: Minister

As many as 25,202 public charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs) have been installed in the country to date, the government said on Friday.

1 min

Indian Army to receive K9 VAJRA-T artillery under ₹7,628 crore contract

The Ministry of Defence has signed a 7,628.70 crore contract with Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) for the procurement of 155 mm/52 calibre K9 VAJRA-T self-propelled tracked artillery guns for the Indian Army.

1 min

Ex-Haryana CM Chautala dies at 89, PM condoles his death

The state government has declared three days of state mourning on 20, 21 and 22 December

3 mins

Manipur CM highlights progress amid ethnic clashes, urges inclusive governance

Chief Minister of Manipur N. Biren Singh has asserted that the state, which has been reeling under ethnic clashes since May 2023, is witnessing signs of improvement.

1 min

Srijit Mukherji's Bhuswargo Bhoyonkawr is a cinematic reverie that pivots on razor's edge of morality

What do you get when the philosophical quagmire of capital punishment collides with the razor-sharp intellect of Bengal's most celebrated sleuth?

2 mins

Superboys of Malegaon call sound, lights and roll

Director Reema Kagti's basket has an interesting mix of movies. From Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd in 2006 to Talaash (2012) to Gold (2018)—they talk about a comic medley of couples, mystery and sports, respectively.

2 mins

A bolt from the blue

Tabla wizard ustad Zakir Hussain (9 March 1951–15 December 2024) left for his eternal journey at a time when he was supposed to be in Kolkata as a much-awaited participant in the Swara Samrat Music Festival.

5 mins

Carabao Cup: Newcastle fancy their chances vs Arsenal, Reds face Spurs

Newcastle looking forward to 'difficult' semifinal against Arsenal, defending champions Liverpool eye 2nd consecutive title

2 mins

ISL: Jamshedpur FC eye league double against East Bengal

Jamshedpur FC will aim to register their first-ever league double over East Bengal FC when they face off in an Indian Super League (ISL) clash at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata on Saturday.

2 mins

What stands out was Ashwin wanting to evolve all the time, says Ravi Shastri

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri said that the recently-retired Ravichandran Ashwin's constant drive to evolve was one of the reasons that made him stand out.

1 min

India to host Para Athletics World Championships 2025

The world's largest single Para sport event will take place from 26 September to 5 October 2025 at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi, which will also host a World Para Athletics Grand Prix for the first time next March.

1 min

Rewind 2024: India's bittersweet campaign in Paris - Olympics and Paralympics

Last minute preparations, exposure camps abroad, TOPS funding, overlooking administrative mess-ups to pick the crème de la crème of Indian sports for the biggest show on earth that unfolded in Paris three years after Covid-19 pushed the Tokyo edition of the Olympics by a year.

1 min

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