Category Archives: Regional

Crime, Politics, Regional, States, West Bengal

Raj Bhavan employee files complaint of sexual harassment against Bengal Governor

May 3, 2024 Kalimpong News Leave a comment

Refuse to be cowed down by engineered narratives….truth will triumph: Bose

EOI, KOLKATA, MAY 2, 2024 : In a sensational incident that stirred a political furore in the state a female employee of Raj Bhavan today put West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose in the dock for sexual harassment.

She filed a complaint against the Governor at Hare Street police station under Kolkata Police . The woman, who had been working as a temporary employee of Raj Bhavan used to live in the staff quarters of Raj Bhavan.

However the Governor refuted the charges vehemently. “Truth shall triumph. I refuse to be cowed down by engineered narratives If any body wants some election benefits by maligning me God bless them. But they can not stop my fight against corruption and violence in Bengal,’’

Governor Bose said in a statement. In expected fashion the incident triggered a political slugfest in the state. `

`A Governor is being accused of indulging in sexual harassment. What kind of state we are in,’’ fumed state minister Chandrima Bhattacharya.

Retorted Subhendu Adhikary, BJP leader and Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly. “It could be an attempt to divert people’s attention from the several scams the ruling TMC is reeling under. However the allegation should be probed. `

If it turns out to be a conspiracy the perpetrators should be punished. But if it comes out to be true action should also be taken,’’ Ashikary said.

However, according to constitutional experts a Governor, while in office enjoys immunity from all criminal proceedings under Article 361 of the Constitution.

Health, National, Regional, States

Report on Rare Adverse Side Effects of Covishield Causes Panic. But Should It?

May 2, 2024 Kalimpong News Leave a comment

The risks which are now causing paranoia have been known since 2021 – and experts believe they do not outweigh the benefits the vaccine brought at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, the adverse effects show up a few months after vaccine delivery, at the latest.

A vial of the Covishield vaccine candidate. Photo: Covid-19 vaccination/Flickr, CC BY NC 2.0

Banjot Kaur, The Wire, 01 May 2024 : New Delhi: The Telegraph‘s report that the maker of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which was sold in India as Covishield, has “admitted” to an adverse event called ‘Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome’ or TTS in “very rare cases” has led to deluge of social media posts and a growing sense of paranoia among people.

TTS is a spectrum that involves blot clots along with a low platelet count in the body, which at times can cause serious injury or even death.

While there had been reported cases of deaths and serious adverse effects following the administration of the vaccine, all drug regulators and scientific bodies have categorised them as extremely rare occurrences. All of them have said there are risks, but the benefits of the vaccine, including saving lives, have outweighed the risks.

The Wire breaks down the risk v/s benefits scenario for those who took Covishield in India.

How rare is rare?

One of the keywords that was reported to have been used by AstraZeneca, in terms of adverse events occurring, was ‘rare’ – something that most of the commentary is now missing.

But how rare is it? By looking at the data from the UK and the European Union, the Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety assessed that the risk was low. The committee consists of independent vaccine and other domain experts. It advises the World Health Organisation on vaccine safety.

“[The] data from the UK suggest the risk is approximately 4 cases per million adults who receive the vaccine, while the rate is estimated to be approximately 1 per 100, 000 in the European Union (EU),” it said back in 2021. It was in late 2020 and early 2021 that the Covid-19 vaccination drive picked up globally.

There are several other studies that looked into the rate of TTS caused by the AstraZeneca vaccine. One such study looked at the AstraZeneca Global Safety Database in 2022. They found the rate of this adverse event to be 7.5 per million vaccinated persons, while yet another meta-analysis, which studied two mRNA vaccines and the AstraZeneca vaccine, found the rate of severe adverse reactions with the latter as two per million vaccinated in 2020.

For how long does one run the risk of developing clots?

An Australian assessment says the serious adverse events may develop within four to 42 days of administration of the vaccine. The TTS can develop within a short stretch of duration, and not years after the vaccination. Hence any TTS event, or clotting, can’t occur with Covishield/Astrazeneca vaccine unless one has taken it in the immediate past.

“This time period may also stretch to 3-6 months,” Jacob John, an infectious diseases expert with Christian Medical College (CMC) Vellore, told The Wire.

“The vaccine can’t cause an epigenetic effect. It is not something that it has altered your genes,” he explained, and so can’t lead to the development of clots years down the line.

Is this new information?

Another claim that is doing the rounds is that this is the ‘first time’ we have come to know that TTS could take place in rare instances due to the vaccine. While it may be the first time the information has reached such a wide audience, scientific papers had spoken of the issue back in 2021.

Moreover, the company too had put in the public domain something called a ‘package insert’ while rolling out the vaccine for use. That package insert, shared on the AstraZeneca website, mentions the occurrence of clotting as a rare event.

However, what did not happen was adequate publicising of this information. Neither governments around the world, including India’s, nor the company itself, made meaningful efforts to let the risks be known on a large scale. Therefore, people are now raising questions regarding the transparency of governments and vaccine companies – even if such adverse events were rare.

How does the rare clotting happen?

The British Heart Foundation says the exact pathway is still being studied.

Satyajit Rath, a noted immunologist who has also been associated with Institute of Immunology in India, says it may be due to an inadvertent event. Apart from making the antibodies against the Covid-19 virus, the autoantibodies against a protein found in blood called platelet-4 also got developed in some rare cases, he explained.

“This, in turn, seems to be contributing to triggering a cascade of platelet clumping, and, therefore, the clots,” Rath said.

He added that why it happens in the case of some people – even though rare – and not in others, is yet to be understood clearly.

Heart attack because of Covid-19

There are ample studies, like this long-term research, now, on Long Covid – a spectrum of diseases that many have developed even after patients have recovered from the initial infection. Heart attacks are the most common among them. The British Heart Foundation says the clots were far more common after a Covid-19 infection than after the vaccine.

This large-scale study looked into the records of 10.17 million vaccinated and 10.39 million unvaccinated people in the UK, Spain and Estonia. The researched concluded:

“[The] COVID-19 vaccination reduced the risk of post-COVID-19 cardiac and thromboembolic outcomes. These effects were more pronounced for acute COVID-19 outcomes, consistent with known reductions in disease severity; following breakthrough [or reinfection] versus unvaccinated SARS-CoV-2 [virus causing Covid-19] infection.”

Another study by a group of scientists from Oxford University published in 2021 compared the possibility of thrombocytopenia after Covid-19 infection, and after the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

They concluded that there was an ‘increased’ risk of thrombocytopenia (low platelet count) and venous thromboembolism (clotting in veins) in short time intervals after the administration of the first dose of the vaccine.

But they also wrote that these risks were much higher if one got the Covid-19 disease, as compared to the vaccine.

“Importantly, the risks of these outcomes after vaccination were much lower than those associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection in the same population,” they wrote.

Countries suspended/stopped use of AstraZeneca vaccine for young populations

More than a dozen countries, especially in Europe, suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for an interim period after reports of clotting surfaced in 2021. However, many of them resumed using it a month or so later.

The governments in the UK and Australia have maintained that younger people, especially those below 50, should not take the AstraZeneca vaccine. They recommended alternative vaccines for this age group; Australia recommended Pfizer’s mRNA vaccine for the younger cohort.

Should India have altered its strategy too? The answer heavily rested on the fact that the Indian government did not allow the import of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. Therefore, it had limited the options for itself, should a change in strategy have been required.

Moreover, the Indian government had hardly initiated any study, like the other governments, to understand the adverse effects of the vaccine on the younger population after its rollout.

“In order to make a good determination of Covid risk versus vaccine risk to an individual, it would be necessary to have really robust evidence for local transmission situations and clinical risk profiles,” Rath said.

Even though the Astrazeneca vaccine-associated adverse effects were rare, Rath questioned whether India had collected reliable background information as the basis for any potential decision to halt vaccine use in a specific set of the population.

Lack of adverse events monitoring system in India

One of the reasons that a paranoia of sorts has taken over people after the reports of AstraZeneca’s admission is the lack of a proper monitoring mechanism for the side effects of Covid-19 vaccines, or Adverse Effects Following Immunisation (AEFI), in India.

Till date, there is no public platform that the Indian government has built where one can easily look into the data regarding this. As against this, many governments around the world have been transparent.

A case in point is this website of the UK’s drug regulator, Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

On this website one can look for the number of adverse reactions caused by each of the three available vaccines in the country – two mRNA vaccines of Pfizer and Moderna, and Novovax. Not only have they put in the public domain how many adverse events occurred, they have also put a summary of how many events were reported and studied to be finally characterised as adverse events.

The US’s Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) gives anyone the opportunity to download data for the vaccine’s side effects.

The public availability of this information is one point. Another worrisome point in India, as far as Covid-19 vaccines are concerned, is how one should report if an adverse event has occurred.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in India created a toll free number for this. But there were no efforts made to widely circulate that number – definitely much less than the efforts taken to convince people to take vaccines.

There have been reports how registering an AEFI event caused due to Covid-19 vaccination has been an uphill task in India. On the other hand, the MHRA has an easy-to-use ‘yellow card reporting’ website for this.

There have been 180 reported deaths in India following Covid-19 vaccination, but experts don’t rule out some sort of an undercounting here

“Our regulator really needs to learn regarding creating an efficient AEFI reporting system,” CMC’s John said. There have been no post-approval real-life long-term studies in India done by the government to understand how the vaccines performed.

“If such a system [of monitoring] isn’t created, then it is bound to hit the trust of the people in Science. Worse, should an epidemic occur again, how are people going to trust [the vaccines],” John asked.

Other vaccines causing side effects

A panic has now set in among common people. They are questioning why this ‘unsafe vaccine’ was rolled out in India. However, there has been no vaccine against any virus in history which was shown to have 100% safety. Rare side effects have been associated even with those jabs which have been in use for decades now.

“The oral polio vaccine can, in rare instances, lead to vaccine-induced poliomyelitis disease,” Rath explained. He cited another example of the BCG vaccine which, in rare instances, can cause severe inflammation and abscess formation.

It is then not entirely unsurprising – and perhaps not a cause for widespread panic – that the Covid-19 vaccine too can lead to rare adverse events.

Politics, Regional, States, West Bengal

Modi govt wants country without dalits, backward communities: Mamata Banerjee

May 2, 2024 Kalimpong News Leave a comment

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is lying about the benefits of UCC that it will help everybody. Instead, if UCC is implemented, it will put at stake the existence of SCs, STs and OBCs. BJP will destroy the constitution, says the Bengal Chief Minister

West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee.: File picture.

PTI, Tehatta (WB), 02.05.24 :West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday accused the Narendra Modi government of attempting to marginalise the SCs, STs, and OBCs.

Speaking at a rally in support of TMC candidate Mahua Moitra at Tehatta in Nadia district, Banerjee criticised the BJP government’s ‘falsehoods’ about citizenship benefits for marginalised communities, warning that the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) could jeopardise the rights of SCs, STs, and OBCs.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi is lying about the benefits of UCC that it will help everybody. Instead, if UCC is implemented, it will put at stake the existence of SCs, STs and OBCs. BJP will destroy the constitution. But rest assured, we will not let it happen,” Banerjee said.

The TMC chief said for the past 10 years, the BJP has been spreading lies about Matuas and other backward castes getting citizenship through the CAA, which is a ploy to take away one’s already existing bona fide citizenship rights and deport them to concentration camps.

The Krishnanagar constituency has a large population of Matua population.

She also said the UCC will prevent different communities, tribes and sects from practicing their own customs and rituals.

The CM cautioned the electorate against BJP’s ploy “to inflate the voting figure after the actual date of polling by using the Election Commission.” She expressed bewilderment over the Election Commission’s announcement of an increased poll percentage four days after the actual voting took place, stating that while she wasn’t casting aspersions on the EC, she found it unfathomable.

Banerjee cautioned against BJP’s tactics to manipulate voting figures and alleged threats by BJP leaders to IAS and IPS officers in West Bengal and vowed to resist any attempts to undermine the state’s integrity.

“Intimidation, threat and pressure by the Narendra Modi government on state ministers, officials or people will not work in Bengal,” she said.

Economy, Politics, Regional, States, West Bengal

Work suspended in Jalpaiguri tea garden, 850 people lose jobs on International Labour Day

May 2, 2024 Kalimpong News Leave a comment

Sources said the management had not been paying provident funds and gratuity for the past few months, much to the disgruntlement of the workforce

The factory premises of the Totapara tea estate on Wednesday. Biplab Basak

TT, Jalpaiguri , 02.05.24 : Around 850 people turned jobless on Wednesday when the world observed International Labour Day as the management of the Totapara tea estate in Jalpaiguri district announced the suspension of work, citing lawlessness in the garden.

The tea estate is located in Banarhat block and has around 855 workers.

Sources said the management had not been paying provident funds and gratuity for the past few months, much to the disgruntlement of the workforce.

“In the past few weeks, the management didn’t even pay the wages. We are yet to receive wages of three fortnights,” said worker Ravi Baraik.

A section of the labourers went to Banarhat police station on April 27 and held a demonstration, seeking the intervention of the law enforcers and the administration.

After their demonstration, a tripartite meeting was called in the BDO’s office

in Banarhat but none from the management’s side turned up.

“The management informed the administration that it would clear a fortnight’s wages on Tuesday. Accordingly, the wages were disbursed yesterday (on Tuesday) but later at night, a notice announcing the suspension of work from today (Wednesday) was issued,” said another worker Durga Oraon.

The workers saw the notice when they reached the factory on Wednesday morning to join their duties.

“The management was not paying the workers and when they demanded wages, the garden was closed down on the pretext of lawlessness. The administration should intervene immediately,” said Tabarak Ali, a vice-president of the Trinamool Cha Bagan Sramik Union.

Jairaj Biswakarma, the Banarhat block president of the BJP-backed Bharatiya Tea Workers Union, said the management should have held talks with trade unions.

“Instead, they (management) decided to close down the garden at the beginning of the tea season because of financial constraints and put the blame on workers. We condemn such moves,” he said.

Those associated with the Dooars tea industry said the garden had closed down several times in the past over financial issues.

Amitangshu Chakraborty, the principal advisor of the Indian Tea Planters’ Association of which Totapara is a member, said the organisation had received a copy of the suspension notice.

Officials of the state labour department said they hadn’t received any official information about the suspension of work from the company that owns the Totapara garden.

“Even then, we are gathering information from various sources. If the garden has closed down, we will take appropriate steps so that it reopens at the earliest,” said Subhgata Gupta, the deputy labour commissioner of Jalpaiguri.

Politics, Regional, States, West Bengal

EC directs parties to stop registering voters for beneficiary schemes under guise of surveys

May 2, 2024 Kalimpong News Leave a comment

The poll authority noted that some political parties and candidates have been engaging in activities that blur the lines between legitimate surveys and partisan efforts to register individuals for post-election beneficiary-oriented schemes

PTI, New Delhi, 02.05.24 : The Election Commission Thursday said it has taken a “serious view” of political parties and candidates seeking details of voters under the guise of various surveys for their proposed beneficiary schemes as it amounts to a corrupt practice under election law.

The Election Commission issued an advisory to all national and state political parties to immediately cease and desist from any activities that involve registering people for post-election beneficiary-oriented schemes through any advertisement, survey or mobile application.

It said the act of inviting or calling upon individual electors to register for post-election benefits may create an impression of the requirement of one-to-one transactional relationship between the elector and the proposed benefit, and has the potential to generate a quid pro quo arrangement for voting in a particular way, thereby leading to inducement.

Education, Regional, States, West Bengal

WBBSE Madhyamik 10th Result 2024 declared – 86.31 percent students qualify exam

May 2, 2024 Kalimpong News Leave a comment

A total of 83.90 percent of female students have qualified the exam while for male students the percentage stands at 89.21 percent

TT, 02 May 2024:

A total of 83.90 percent of female students have qualified the exam while for male students the percentage stands at 89.21 percent

The results of West Bengal Madhyamik Exam was declared by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education through a press conference on Thursday morning. As the results were declared, it was found that the districts have outshone Kolkata in the Examinations with Chandrachur Sen from Rambhola High School in Coochbehar district securing the top position with 693 marks.

Fifty-seven students have secured their position in the top 10 with eight students from South 24 Parganas making it to the list of top 10 followed by South Dinajpur, Purba Bardhaman, Purba Medinipur, Bankura. The overall pass percentage of this year’s Madhyamik Exam is 86.31 which is slightly higher than the previous year’s pass percentage of 86.15 percent.

A total of 83.90 percent of female students have qualified the exam while for male students the percentage stands at 89.21 percent.

In Kolkata, Somdutta Samanta from Kamala Girls High School topped the district with 10th rank in Madhyamik Exam.

A total of 9,12,598 students had appeared in the examination at 986 centres throughout the state with a total of 7,76,252 students qualifying the exam. This includes 4,03,900 male students and 5,08,698 female students.

Also Read: West Bengal Madhyamik 2024 Result DECLARED! Check Your Scorecards Here

A total of 1,18,411 students have secured above 60 percent marks in the examination, while 9,961, 24,683 and 83,807 students were graded AA, A+ and A respectively.

The results have been made available on the official website ofWest Bengal Board of Secondary Education at wbbse.wb.gov.in or wbresults.nic.in from 9.45 am.

Students will also be able to check their results through SMS. For checking results through SMS, students will have to send SMS to 56263 or 56070 by writing ‘WB10Your Roll Number’.

Education, Regional, States, West Bengal

Kalimpong with 96.2% pass percentage tops the state :10th Top 5 Toppers of MP Exam

May 2, 2024 Kalimpong News Leave a comment

TT, 02 May 2024 :

The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) has declared the results for the Madhyamik (Class 10) exams today, May 2.

Students can check their scores on wbbse.wb.gov.in and wbresults.nic.in.

The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) has declared the results for the Madhyamik (class 10) exams today, May 2. Students can check their scores on wbbse.wb.gov.in and wbresults.nic.in.

This year witnessed a significant rise in female candidates, with 25.95% more girls appearing for the exams. With 7,65,252 students passing out of 9,12,598 examinees, the overall pass percentage stands at 86.31%, a slight improvement from last year’s 86.15%.

Latest: WBBSE Madhyamik 10th Result 2024 declared – 86.31 percent students qualify exam.

Topping the charts is Chandrachur Sen from Rambhola High School, Cooch Behar, scoring a remarkable 693 marks (99%). Following closely behind is Samyapriyo Guru from Purulia Zilla School, Purulia, with 692 marks (98.96%). The third position is shared by Udayan Prosad of Balurghat High School, Dakshin Dinajpur, Puspita Basuri of New Integrated Govt School Illambazar, Birbhum, and Nairit Ranjan Pal of Narendrapur R K Mission Vidyalaya, South 24 Parganas, each scoring 691 marks (98.71%).

Tapojyoti Mandal of Kamarpukur R K Mission Multipurpose School, Hooghly, secured the fourth position with 690 marks (98.57%), while Arghyadip Basak of Paruldanga Nasratpur High School, Purba Burdwan, clinched the fifth spot with 689 marks (98.43%).

In terms of districts, Kalimpong emerges as the top performer with a staggering pass percentage of 96.2%, closely followed by East Midnapore at 95.49% and Kolkata at 91.62%.

Education, Regional, States, West Bengal

District-wise WBBSE Madhyamik 2024 toppers; Check full merit list inside!

May 2, 2024 Kalimpong News Leave a comment

District-wise WBBSE Madhyamik 2024 toppers; Check full merit list inside!

Suparna Ghosh, 02 May 2024 : Students who have appeared for Class 10 exams can check their WB Class 10 result 2024 through the official website- wbbse.wb.gov.in

The board has also released the WB Madhyamik toppers list and pass percentage along with the results

The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) announced the WB Class 10 result 2024 today i.e. on 2 May. Students who appeared for Class 10 exams can check their WB Class 10 result 2024 through the official website- wbbse.wb.gov.in.

The board has also released the WB Madhyamik toppers list and pass percentage along with the results. As per the official release, a total of 57 students are in the WB result merit list this year. The topper list includes one student at rank 1, one student at rank 2, 3 students at rank 3, one student at rank 4 and 5. Rank 10 has been shared by 18 students.

WBBSE Madhyamik 2024 Class 10th Top 5 Toppers & Best Districts Revealed!

This year, a total of 910598 students appeared for the Class 10 final examination. Out of which 508698 were female and 403900 were male candidates. Around 7.65 lakh students have passed the examination. The pass percentage is 86.31 per cent.

WB Madhyamik 10th Result 2024: Direct Link

WB Madhyamik Toppers List 2024: District-wise

1. Chandrachur Sen (Coochbehar)

Marks: 693; Percentage: 99%

2. Samyapriya Guru (Purulia)

Marks: 692; Percentage: 98.86%

3. Udayan Prasad (Dakshin Dinajpur)

Marks: 691; Percentage: 98.71%

Pushpita Basuri (Birbhum)

Marks: 691; Percentage: 98.71%

Nairit Ranjan Pal (24 PGS South)

Marks: 691; Percentage: 98.71%

4. Tapajyoti Mandal (Hooghly)

Marks: 690; Percentage: 98.75%

5. Arghyadip Basak (Purba Burdwan)

Marks: 689; Percentage: 98.43%

6. Krishanu Saha (Dakshin Dinajpur)

Marks: 688; Percentage: 98.29%

MD Sahabuddin Ali (Malda)

Marks: 688; Percentage: 98.29%

Koustav Sahoo (Paschim Medinipur)

Marks: 688; Percentage: 98.29%

Olive Gain (24 PGS South)

Marks: 688; Percentage: 98.29%

7. Asif Kamal (Coochbehar)

Marks: 687; Percentage: 98.14%

Abritti Ghatak (Dakshin Dinajpur)

Marks: 687; Percentage: 98.14%

Arpita Ghosh (Dakshin Dinajpur)

Marks: 687; Percentage: 98.14%

Saatwata De (Dakshin Dinajpur)

Marks: 687; Percentage: 98.14%

Ardtrik Sow (Birbhum)

Marks: 687; Percentage: 98.14%

Supam Kumar Roy (Purba Medinipur)

Marks: 687; Percentage: 98.14%

Koustav Mal (Purba Medinipur)

Marks: 687; Percentage: 98.14%

Alekhya Maity (24 PGS South)

Marks: 687; Percentage: 98.14%

8. Indrani Chakraborty (Purba Burdwan)

Marks: 686; Percentage: 98%

Debjyoti Bhattacharya (Purba Burdwan)

Marks: 686; Percentage: 98%

Tanuka Paul (Paschim Mednipur)

Marks: 686; Percentage: 98%

Hriddhi Mallick (Nadia)

Marks: 686; Percentage; 98%

9. Rounak Ghosh (Dakshin Dinajpur)

Marks: 685; Percentage: 97.86%

Ashmita Chakraborty (Dakshin Dinajpur)

Marks: 685; Percentage: 97.86%

Bishal Chandra Mandal (Malda)

Marks: 685; Percentage: 97.86%

Aminul Islam (Malda)

Marks: 685; Percentage: 97.86%

Chandradip Das (Birbhum)

Marks: 685; Percentage: 97.86%

Arunima Chatterjee (Bankura)

Marks: 685; Percentage: 97.86%

Anwesha Ghosh (Jhargram)

Marks: 685; Percentage: 97.86%

Dhritiman Pal (Paschim Medinipur)

Marks: 685; Percentage: 97.86%

Sayak Sasmal (Purba Medinipur)

Marks: 685; Percentage: 97.86%

Sagar Jana (Purba Medinipur)

Marks: 685; Percentage: 97.86%

Sagnik Ghatak (Purba Medinipur)

Marks: 685; Percentage: 97.86%

Jishnu Das (Nadia)

Marks: 685; Percentage: 97.86%

Ritobrata Nath (24 PGS South)

Marks: 685; Percentage: 97.86%

Ritwik Dutta (24 PGS South)

Marks: 685; Percentage: 97.85%

Sayandeep Manna (24 PGS South)

Marks: 685; Percentage: 97.85%

Aranyadeb Barman (Howrah)

Marks: 685; Percentage: 97.85%

10. Bhowmi Sarkar (Uttar Dinajpur)