Two fake circulars announcing the date and time of the ICSE and ISC results and a fake link to a page with the name of the council on social media caused anxiety for thousands of students on Saturday.
ICSE (Class X) and ISC (Class XII) examinees kept calling their teachers and checking the website in anticipation of their results.
“The circulars were fake,” Sangeeta Bhatia, deputy secretary of Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE), told The Telegraph from Delhi.
One of the circulars said the results would be published on May 4 at 1pm while the other one said they would be out on May 7 at 10am.
“The council will take up this matter with police and is waiting for advisers to say what to do,” said a council official in Delhi. Asked if the council would lodge any complaint, the official said: “Yes, we will be doing that.”
A senior officer of Kolkata Police’s detective department said they had not received any complaint till Saturday evening. “We have not received any complaint so far.”
The ICSE and ISC results are usually published by the middle of May and the council makes an announcement before publishing the results.
Last year, the results were published on May 14.
Some of the teachers issued their own clarification to anxious students.
“I sent out a message to parents and children saying that one should check the official website of the council and not believe in any other link,” said Souvic Jati, ICSE coordinator of The Heritage School.
The ICSE exam ended on March 28 and ISC on April 4.
“This is a serious harassment of students. Some will be appearing for the Neet (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) on Sunday and they are getting unnecessarily stressed. There should be action against those who are spreading such rumours,” said Rodney Borneo, principal, St Augustine’s Day School Shyamnagar.
What can a Calcutta-based NGO, a social worker from Manipur’s hills and some long-shut government primary schools have in common?
Knock, Knock: A primary school in Oklong Khunou village : Photo, courtesy Prasanta Roy
Sudipta Bhattacharjee, TT, 05.05.24 : From the air, Manipur looks like a bowl, a verdant valley girdled by green hills. There appears no hint of the unprecedented turbulence that has rocked this northeastern state over the past year.
But there is certainly a sense of eerie isolation and foreboding on the route from Imphal to the hill districts surrounding the valley. Leaving the Manipur capital behind, it takes three hours along National Highway 2 to reach Senapati town. Provisions are procured from here because the villages in the hills are scantily stocked.
While the majority Meiteis live in the valley, the Naga and Kuki-Zo communities inhabit the five hill districts of Senapati, Churachandpur, Tamenglong, Chandel and Ukhrul. From Senapati town, it takes over 90 minutes to reach the villages of Oklong and Oklong Khunou, comprising the Naga indigenous population, along roads in various states of disrepair, gradient and sudden turns.
In the village, one can find R.K. Paul Chawang, a native of Oklong Khunou. Paul is a social worker with a mission. His organisation, Amyaa, is striving to bring a semblance of progress to the otherwise stagnant villages in the vicinity that include Oklong, Oklong Maryram, Oklong Khunou, Makuilongdi and Maram Khunou. While working on a project in Arunachal Pradesh, he came across members of a Calcutta-based NGO, Prayasam, and urged them to come to trouble-torn Manipur and train the youth of Senapati hill district.
Recently, a group of Am-yaa members came to Calcutta to be trained at Prayasam’s Community Youth Hub. One of the members, Albert, who is also from Oklong Khunou village, found the skills training so helpful that, like Paul, he felt the youth back home would benefit greatly from this joint venture. Prayasam’s life-skills education module addresses vital parameters like self-knowledge, communication, relationship-building, decision-making, coping with emotions, living with disability and substance-use, among others.
In the hills of Senapati, Paul introduced the Prayasam team — founder Amlan Kusum Ganguly, Saptarshi Ray, Prasanta Roy and Manish Chowdhury — to several village elders, young adults, children and women to chalk out an action plan for the resurrection of defunct government primary schools that have no infrastructure or teachers.
According to 29-year-old Erangbe Hau, the school in-charge at Makuilongdi, “The government teachers never come to the schools, although they collect their salaries. We run the school as ‘proxy teachers’ at a salary of ₹6,000, arranged by the local church and village council.” Like him, 24-year-old Machunkam, a college student who lives in Oklong Khunou, says he and his friends are ready to spearhead the change.
Paul explains the demographic negligence of the hill districts. “During the long tenure of Congress chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh, the Nagas were at the receiving end and had to take recourse to a 100-day economic blockade. Under the present BJP dispensation with N. Biren Singh as chief minister, it is the Kukis who are being deprived. But despite his apparently kind visage towards us Nagas, there is no development. Whatever little funds trickle down, after greasing palms in between, are grossly insufficient for any welfare scheme,” he adds. Like in Bengal and many other states, there is a thriving job racket, including that for the posts of schoolteachers.
Paul is now looking to Prayasam to train the youth, hand-hold the trainees till they are able to sustain the impact on society and bring in a semblance of progress to keep the youth from migrating to the mainland, where most end up frustrated with their efforts to eke out a decent living. Ganguly says they will replicate their successful training module in Senapati very soon.
“Central to Prayasam’s approach is the focus on youth empowerment through Ontrack life skills lessons,” he explains. “Tailored specifically to the needs and aspirations of young people, these sessions equip them with essential skills such as problem-solving and leadership. Through interactive workshops and hands-on activities, youth are empowered to navigate life’s challenges with confidence and resilience. Moreover, they are trained to be community ambassadors, tasked with spearheading grassroots initiatives and mobilising their peers towards collective action for positive change.”
Elaborating, he says: “At the heart of Prayasam’s intervention strategy lies the concept of Multiple Activity Centres (MACs), envisioned as vibrant hubs of community engagement and empowerment. These centres serve as catalysts for change, offering a wide array of programmes and activities designed to uplift and empower the entire community.” In the villages of Senapati, the schools will be used as MACs — for children’s classes, youth activity as well as adult education programmes.
The MACs also serve as platforms for economic empowerment, particularly for women. In Naga society, women are not at the forefront of decision-making. To hone their skills, Prayasam will include income-generating activities, providing them with opportunities to achieve financial independence. Ganguly, an Ashoka and Ford fellow, says: “They will be trained in the marketing of forest resources, including local produce like kiwi and large cardamom, empowering the women to leverage their natural surroundings sustainably and generate income for their families.”
The Nagas of Senapati comprise the Zemi, Rongmei and Liangmai communities. All of them stand united in the quest for development. One village elder lamented that they have not seen their children and grandchildren in decades. There is no school, no health centre. Who would want to remain there, he asked.
A large number of BJP workers are uninterested in campaigning. The RSS cadre, extremely active here in 2014 and 2019, remains elusive — they are neither going door to door nor meeting BJP workers, a political observer said
The main entrance to the Ram temple in Ayodhya.: Picture by Piyush Shrivastava
Piyush Srivastava Ayodhya, TT, 05.05.24 : In a matter of days, the door-to-door BJP campaigners’ tone in Ayodhya has gone from preening to pleading.
“Ram ke vote deo na toh Ramji haar jaihen. BJP chhodo, ihan Ram ke badnami hoi (Vote for Ram, else Ram will lose. Not just the BJP but Ram will get a bad name),” voters of the Faizabad constituency, where Ayodhya falls, are being implored.
This is days after they were told it would be a privilege for them to “participate” in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s inevitable triumph by voting for him.
“Modiji ko awe se kauno rok na sakat hai. Apahun ome apan yogdan do (Nobody can stop Modiji from coming to power. You too participate in it).”
Political observers believe that all isn’t well with the BJP at Hindutva’s Ground Zero, and this is why Modi is arriving on Sunday — 15 days before the polling — for
a road show.
“Normally, road shows by the senior-most leaders of a party are held three or four days before the election. But suddenly, the most powerful people in the government are visiting Ayodhya many days before polling,” a politics lecturer at a local degree college said.
Seeking anonymity, he added: “A large number of BJP workers are uninterested in campaigning. The RSS cadre, extremely active here in 2014 and 2019, remains elusive — they are neither going door to door nor meeting BJP workers.”
T.N. Tiwari, a local political analyst, said: “Amit Maurya, the Devakali Mandal BJP booth president in Ayodhya district, committed suicide on May 20, 2021, after facing police harassment during the construction of his house. BJP leaders didn’t help him and he threw himself on a railway track. Since then, many booth-level BJP workers and leaders have withdrawn from party activities.
“The euphoria of the Ram temple is subsiding, too. About 2 lakh devotees visited the temple every day after the (January 22) consecration; only 20,000 come nowadays.”
Lallu Singh of the BJP is seeking a third consecutive term from Faizabad. The BJP holds four of the five Assembly segments, but local wisdom has it that Lallu enjoys the support only of Daryabad MLA Satish Sharma.
The party MLAs from Rudauli, Bikapur and Ayodhya seem unhappy — if not with Lallu, certainly with chief minister Yogi Adityanath whom they and their peers accuse of disempowering them by wielding direct control over the bureaucracy and police.
The fifth MLA, Awadhesh Prasad of the Samajwadi Party (Milkipur), is the INDIA nominee against Lallu. The caste equations seem to be with him.
One of the reasons has been the fear generated among Dalit, tribal and OBC voters that if the BJP wins a huge majority, it would amend the Constitution to abolish reservations.
Ironically, Lallu had himself fanned these fears by purportedly declaring, at a meeting in the second week of April, that the BJP and allies needed over 400 seats “to change the Constitution”.
Lallu later claimed the video of his speech was an edited one. But the controversy forced Modi to drop his “400-plus” cry and rush to deny, along with Union home minister Amit Shah, that the BJP would ever change the Constitution.
“Losing the Faizabad seat will be a real humiliation for the BJP and Modiji because Ayodhya is part of it. This is probably why the Prime Minister has suddenly decided to hold a road show here,” Awadhesh Mishra, a BJP worker, said.
“President Droupadi Murmu rushed to Ayodhyaon Wednesday and Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami participated in a 9km road show with Lallu before the MP filed hisnomination.”
Lallu denied any sense of insecurity, saying: “The Prime Minister’s road show of May 5 was expected since long back. He’ll also offer prayers at the Ram temple.”
But the BJP’s nervousness was underlined on April 30 when the central government-appointed Ram temple trust felt the need to contradict Rahul’s claim that President Murmu had not been invited to the January 22 consecration because she comes from a tribal community.
“Rahul Gandhi’s statement is untrue, baseless and confusing. We want to remind him that respected Droupadi Murmu and former President Ramnath Kovind (a Dalit) were both invited on this occasion,” the trust said ina statement.
“Many saints and people from… the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes were invited.”
On Sunday, Modi will worship at the Ram temple and then lead a 1.9km road show. Forty cultural groups from various states have been hired to perform on both sides ofthe road.
Before leaving the city, Bose had said in an audio statement that he smelt a “sinister plot” and that no one would be able to deter him from his “determined efforts to expose corruption and curb violence”
Kinsuk Basu, TT, Calcutta, 05.05.24 : The special enquiry team probing allegations of “physical advances” against governor C.V. Ananda Bose, as levelled by a contractual Raj Bhavan employee, has sought CCTV footage from the governor’s office.
A letter sent late on Friday night requested footage related to some of the places the young woman has mentioned in her complaint. The letter set no timeframe.
A city police officer quoted the letter as saying that the footage was required in connection with a complaint the police had received against the governor.
Among the places identified in the letter are the governor’s office and a conference room where Bose has been accused of trying to lure the complainant with the offer of a promotion, a senior police officer said.
“The footage is part of a basic enquiry about what the woman has alleged,” he added.
“Over the next few days, we will speak to some Raj Bhavan staff members as part of our preliminary enquiry into the allegations. If the CCTV footage is not made available, we will mention that in our report.”
The officer in charge of the police’s Raj Bhavan outpost handed the letter to a senior official from the governor’s secretariat, the police said.
“Since there is no specific timeframe for the enquiry, the letter sent to the Raj Bhavan doesn’t specify the time within which the footage would have to be submitted,” a senior police officer said. “We will wait a few days.”
Senior police officers did not want to comment whether they would visit the Raj Bhavan to question the staff or send summons asking them to face the enquiry team.
After the woman lodged her complaint with Hare Street police station on Thursday evening, the police made a general diary entry (GDE) and formed an eight-member special enquiry team headed by deputy police commissioner (central) Indira Mukherjee.
Bose left for Kochi on Friday. On Saturday, this newspaper tried to contact the governor over his phone several times but he remained “unreachable”.
A message to the governor has gone unanswered so far. Calls to Bose’s officer-on-special-duty at the Raj Bhavan have not elicited any response.
Before leaving the city, Bose had said in an audio statement that he smelt a “sinister plot” and that no one would be able to deter him from his “determined efforts to expose corruption and curb violence”.
On Saturday, Trinamool national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee asked why the governor had left the city if he had nothing to hide.
“I feel ashamed to talk about this. Two days ago, Bengal’s governor sexually assaulted a contractual staff who is his daughter’s age,” Abhishek alleged at a news conference.
“The next day, he left the city. If you have nothing to hide, then cooperate with the investigation. Why are you running away?”
The woman has accused Bose of making an indecent proposal to her and touching her inappropriately.
She has mentioned two alleged incidents, the first purportedly taking place at Bose’s office at the Raj Bhavan around 12.45pm on April 24. The complainant has said she managed to get out of the room.
The second alleged incident happened on May2, this time in the conference room, the woman has said.
According to Article 361 of the Constitution, no criminal proceedings can be conducted against the President or a governor during their term in office.
If a complaint is lodged against a governor, the police can submit a preliminary report to the state government, which can forward it to the President, the appointing authority of governors.
The purported sting video — whose authenticity could not be independently verified by The Telegraph — prompted Trinamool to seek an apology from the BJP national leadership, which has been citing Sandeshkhali to try and corner Mamata Banerjee in election season
Abhishek Banerjee addresses the media in Calcutta on Saturday.: PTI photo
Devadeep Purohit, TT, Calcutta, 05.05.24 :
Trinamool on Saturday flagged a viral video that appears to show a local BJP leader admitting that women in Sandeshkhali were given Rs 2,000 each to file rape and sexual abuse complaints on the instructions of Suvendu Adhikari.
The purported sting video — whose authenticity could not be independently verified by The Telegraph — prompted Trinamool to seek an apology from the BJP national leadership, which has been citing Sandeshkhali to try and corner Mamata Banerjee in election season.
With the local BJP leader in the video purportedly contending that no rape or sexual abuse had taken place in Sandeshkhali, Mamata and Trinamool national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee castigated the BJP for “maligning Bengal”. Senior BJP leaders claimed the video was fake.
The chief minister, who was in Nadia to address two poll rallies, was the first to talk about the video. “They created a big drama over Sandeshkhali…. I have been telling you that it’s a conspiracy scripted by the BJP, which has finally come out,” she said.
Her brief comments suggested she was leaving it to Abhishek, her nephew and political heir apparent, to lead the charge against the BJP in connection with the video.
“This is the nadir of shamelessness…. How low can they (the BJP) stoop? If a party can sell the dignity of women at Rs 2,000 for political gain, people should think twice before voting for them,” Abhishek said at a hurriedly convened news conference.
A short video was played before the two-hour news conference at Trinamool Bhavan, off EM Bypass. It juxtaposed, with the “sting” video’s contents, footage of Sandeshkhali-related comments by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and Bengal leader of the Opposition Adhikari.
The video, played by Abhishek, sought to suggest that the attempted ED raid on local Trinamool leader Sheikh Shahjahan’s home on January 5, which brought on a mob attack and catapulted Sandeshkhali to national limelight, was politically motivated.
It also tried to establish that the local women’s subsequent allegations of rape and sexual abuse by ruling party leaders, and the April 26 arms seizure at the house of a Shahjahan aide in Sandeshkhali, were stage-managed.
“I give 48 hours to the BJP national leadership to apologise to the people of Bengal…. If they don’t, people will think that the party president, Union home minister and the Prime Minister were part of the conspiracy,” Abhishek thundered.
Late on Saturday evening, Amit Malviya, co-in-charge of the Bengal BJP, accused Trinamool of orchestrating “a fake sting on a junior functionary of the BJP”.
“TMC, instead of expressing regret over what happened in #Sandeshkhali, first tried to defend, then brazen it out and now is attempting to obfuscate,” he posted on X.
The Bengal BJP too swatted away the charge of a conspiracy. Adhikari accused Abhishek and two others of manufacturing the video with “mala fide intention”, and state unit spokesperson Shamik Bhattacharya termed it “fake” and demanded a CBI probe.
When this newspaper asked Abhishek about the origin of the purported sting video, which had gone viral on Saturday morning, he said: “I got it the way you all got it.”
Asked whether it was genuine, he said: “The onus is not on me. There are three characters (Gangadhar Koyal, mandal president, Sandeshkhali-II; Shanti Dolui, mandal president, Sandeshkhali-I; and a woman complainant of sexual abuse) in the video.
“The person who is there for 80 per cent of the time (Koyal) has admitted that it is his voice… and that it’s him in the video…. This is a testament to the video not being fake.”
Dolui appears to say in the video that the arms seized on April 26 had been brought from outside as part of a plan. The woman, whose name this newspaper is withholding since she is a sexual abuse complainant, purportedly says she had signed the complaint letter without being aware of its content.
Attempts by this newspaper to reach Koyal, Dolui and the woman failed as their cellphones were switched off.
In the evening, BJP sources released a letter Koyal had written to the CBI terming the video footage “morphed and edited”.
Koyal had earlier in the day told some television channels that he indeed featured in the video but alleged the audio had been tampered with.
“We have been saying from Day One that everything was part of a plot, and the sting video has vindicated us…. The Sandeshkhali-II mandal president can be heard saying that everything was done at the instruction of Suvendu Adhikari,” Abhishek said.
“You can hear in the video that women were brainwashed into lodging rape and sexual abuse complaints. Gangadhar said Rekha Patra (who was initially the face of the Sandeshkhali protests and later became the BJP candidate from Basirhat) took Rs 2,000 to lodge complaints…. In their complaints, they said the incidents had taken place six to seven months earlier, and therefore no medical examination can be done.”
Patra said the video was a Trinamool “tactic” and suggested that Koyal “must have been scared” into making the purported remarks in the video.
Asked whether the party would press for a probe on the basis of the video, Abhishek said he would urge the state government to bring it to the attention of the Supreme Court, which is hearing a case on Sandeshkhali.
Unlike his party colleagues, Abhishek did not want to comment on whether the video would give Trinamool an advantage in the 36 seats in Bengal where polls are yet to be held.
5 May 2024 : Indian Meteorological Department has forecast that heat wave conditions with reduced intensity are likely to continue in isolated pockets over East India till Sunday and some places over south Peninsular India till 6th May. Heat wave conditions are very likely in isolated pockets over Gangetic West Bengal, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema on Saturday and Sunday. Interior Karnataka will face heat wave conditions till the 7th of May whereas Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh are likely to face heat wave till the 8th of May.
Yesterday, highest maximum temperature of 46.3 degree Celsius was reported at Nandyal in Rayalaseema. Heat wave conditions have been prevailing over Odisha since 15th April, Gangetic West Bengal since 17th April and Rayalaseema since 24th April. Rise in maximum temperatures by two to four degrees is very likely over many parts of Northwest India, except Uttar Pradesh, during next five days.
Meanwhile, Met department has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall spell accompanied with thunderstorms and gusty winds over Northeast India in the next two days. Wet spell accompanied with thunderstorms and gusty winds is very likely over East India during 5th to 9th of this month with maximum intensity on 6th and 7th May.
PTI, New Delhi, May 4, 2024 : The intensity of the heat wave prevailing in east and parts of southern peninsular India came down slightly on Saturday, with the weather office predicting relief from the scorching conditions in these regions after two days.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said heatwave to severe heatwave conditions prevailed in parts of Gangetic West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Telangana, with maximum temperatures settling 3-5 degrees Celsius above normal in these regions.
The mercury settled above 44 degrees Celsius in at least 10 places in these states.
According to IMD data, 13 places on Friday and 17 on Thursday recorded maximum temperatures above 44 degrees Celsius. Nandyal in Andhra Pradesh sizzled at 46 degrees Celsius and was the hottest place in the country for the third consecutive day on Saturday.
Maximum temperatures were recorded at 45.9 degrees Celsius in Kurnool (Andhra Pradesh), 45 degrees in Mahbubnagar (Telangana), 44 degrees in Odisha’s Boudh, 43.5 degrees in Karur Paramathi (Tamil Nadu), 44.6 degrees in Nizamabad (Telangana), 45.4 in Andhra Pradesh’s Cuddapah, and 43.5 degrees in West Bengal’s Kalaikunda.
The IMD said the ongoing heatwave spell in east and south peninsular India will continue until May 5-6 and abate thereafter.
Light to moderate rainfall and thunderstorms are predicted in Odisha, Gangetic West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand from May 5 to 9.
Scattered light to moderate rainfall is expected in east Uttar Pradesh, Haryana-Chandigarh-Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha and Chhattisgarh during this period.
Scattered light to moderate rainfall is also very likely in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala and Karnataka from May 6 to May 9.
The Met office on Wednesday said above-normal maximum temperatures are likely over most parts of the country in May and a significantly high number of heatwave days expected over the northern plains, central region and adjoining areas of peninsular India.
April witnessed record-smashing maximum temperatures in east, northeast and south peninsular India, prompting health warnings from government agencies and some states to suspend in-person classes in schools.
A number of stations also recorded their highest-ever April day temperatures. Five active western disturbances led to rainfall, thunderstorms and hail storms over north and central India at regular intervals in April, preventing heat waves.
The IMD data shows that heat waves this April were far worse than in 2023, the warmest year on record so far.
This trend is likely to continue in May, with around eight to 11 heatwave days predicted over the south Rajasthan, west Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Marathwada and the Gujarat regions.
The remaining parts of Rajasthan, east Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and some parts of Chhattisgarh, interior Odisha, Gangetic West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, north interior Karnataka and Telangana may record five to seven heatwave days during the month.
Normally, the northern plains, central India and adjoin
The chief minister claimed that though the saffron party was repeatedly saying that the BJP-led NDA will get above 400 seats in the Lok Sabha polls, it will ‘lose’ the elections
PTI, 04.05.24 : Claiming that the BJP has not been able to deliver on its promise of “acche din” (good days), West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday alleged that the Narendra Modi-led government was turning “democracy into a jail.” She claimed that though the saffron party was repeatedly saying that the BJP-led NDA will get above 400 seats in the Lok Sabha polls, it will “lose” the elections.
Addressing an election rally here in Ranaghat Lok Sabha constituency in Nadia district, the TMC supremo asked, “Where is the acche din promised by them (BJP)?” Banerjee claimed that the BJP is planning to make “one nation, one party, one government, one leader, and send all others to jail.” She alleged that the Modi-led government was turning “democracy into a jail.” Banerjee asked whether the BJP was a washing machine, alleging that anyone accused of illegalities becomes clean if they join the saffron party.
She accused the BJP of making false claims of providing various reliefs to the people from electricity to cooking gas or free ration.
“We have delivered on promises made by us, from Lakshmir bhandar to free healthcare under the Swasthya Sathi project,” she said.
The TMC boss claimed that those who are already citizens of India were being asked to make applications for getting it again under the CAA.
Ranaghat constituency has a significant Matua population, over whose citizenship issue the BJP and the TMC have been sparring for quite a long time.
“I cannot make false promises like (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi,” the chief minister said, asserting that she makes only those incentives which she can keep.
Banerjee accused the Centre of not giving West Bengal its financial dues on account of GST collection.
Kolkata Police (KP) is exploring legal opinion from prominent lawyers and constitutional experts seeking to know about what steps should be taken against the governor C V Ananda Bose.
SNS | Kolkata | May 4, 2024 : Kolkata Police (KP) is exploring legal opinion from prominent lawyers and constitutional experts seeking to know about what steps should be taken against the governor C V Ananda Bose.
A temporary woman employee at Raj Bhavan on Thursday, lodged a molestation complaint against Mr Bose, the constitutional head in the state, with Hare Street police station alleging he ‘sexually assaulted her twice’. The incident has rocked the state prompting the ruling Trinamul Congress to come down heavily on Mr Bose amidst the ongoing seven-phase Lok Sabha elections in the state.
Mr Bose dismissed the allegation and said that he would not be cowed down by the “engineered narratives’.
On Thursday evening, soon after the complaint was lodged with police station, Indira Mukhopadhyay, deputy commissioner (DC) of police (central division), told media that they are in touch with lawyers and constitutional experts in the city seeking to know their opinions about the investigation process, particularly what should be legal steps when a constitutional head faces allegations of molestation.
Senior police officials held a meeting today at Lalbazar to discuss the issue, it has been learnt.
“No criminal cases can be framed against the President and Governors of states in our country. The complainant will land in deep trouble if the allegations brought against the Governor are not proved true,” said Tathagata Roy, former Governor of Tripura and Meghalaya.
Prominent lawyers in the city felt that no criminal procedures can be initiated against the President of India and Governors of states as per the Section 361 of the Constitution. But civil cases can be filed against Governors in connection property related disputes, they said.
“The Supreme Court in its verdict has clearly stated that any organized crime against women must be investigated with extreme importance. But in the case of the President of India and Governors, only complaints can be lodged against them. They can’t be arrested till they belong to the coveted posts,” one prominent lawyer said.
On Thursday night, Mr Bose through a statement banned the entry of the minister Chandrima Bhattacharya into the Raj Bhavan premises in Kolkata, Darjeeling and Barrackpore for making “defamation and anti-constitutional media statements” and also barred the police from conducting any investigation against him in the alleged molestation case.
In the statement, the Governor said, “Truth shall triumph. I refuse to be cowed down by engineered narratives. If anybody wants some election benefits by maligning me, God bless them. But they cannot stop my fight against corruption and violence in Bengal.”
Mr Bose left for Kochi to attend a pre-scheduled programme there after the Prime Minister left Raj Bhavan today.
On Friday, the same bench was told that the chief secretary was not the appropriate authority to grant the sanction
Tapas Ghosh And Debraj Mitra, TT, Calcutta, 04.05.24 : A Calcutta High Court bench had rebuked Bengal’s chief secretary on multiple occasions for an alleged delay in greenlighting the trial against state government officials arrested for alleged irregularities in school recruitments.
On Friday, the same bench was told that the chief secretary was not the appropriate authority to grant the sanction.
The counsel representing one of the accused told the division bench of Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Gaurang Kanth that the CBI, which is probing the case, should have instead approached the governor, who appointed his client.
“The investigating agency should have obtained permission from the governor. Both Subires Bhattacharyya and Kalyanmoy Ganguly were appointed by the governor,” said the lawyer appearing for Bhattacharyya, who was the chairman of the West Bengal School Service Commission from 2014 to 2018.
Ganguly, an accused in the case, was the president of the state secondary education board from 2021 to 2022.
The CBI had submitted before the division bench that it had applied for approval — for initiating the trial against Bhattacharyya and Ganguly — from the chief secretary two years ago, but the top bureaucrat of the state had yet to give his nod.
The bench had thrice issued orders to the incumbent chief secretary, B.P. Gopalika, asking him to state why he was not issuing approval for the trial.
The chief secretary had on April 24 filed an application in the high court praying for some more time to file an affidavit stating the reasons.
That prompted Justice Bagchi to say: “The CBI had applied for permission two years ago. Why is the state hesitant? Then, I have to believe that all the accused are so influential that they can influence the government as well.”
Justice Bagchi had given the government time till May 2 for obeying the court order. “Otherwise, the state will have to face the consequences,” the court had said.
On Friday, the submission from Bhattacharyya’s lawyer prompted Justice Bagchi to say: “Actually, the CBI does not have the idea from whom it should obtain the approval. This court unnecessarily criticised the state chief secretary.”
“If the agency seeks permission from the wrong authority, what would the court do,” he said.
The bench fixed the matter for hearing on May 7 and directed the additional solicitor general to be present in the court during the hearing.
We had submitted a list of the undeserving candidates to the division bench of Calcutta High Court: SSC
Subhankar Chowdhury, TT, Calcutta, 04.05.24 :
School Service Commission, Salt Lake office.: File
The school service commission (SSC) chief on Friday said they would tell the Supreme Court that it was possible to make a distinction between the deserving and the undeserving candidates among the 25,000-odd teachers and other employees at government-aided schools whose services were terminated by Calcutta High Court.
“The commission will definitely stand by those who got their jobs through fair means. We will try to assure the Supreme Court, where a case is being heard, that it is possible to make a distinction between those who are deserving and those who are not from this list (of the 25,700 candidates),” SSC chairperson Siddhartha Majumdar told a news conference.
The briefing was convened hours after a section of the 25,700-odd teaching and non-teaching employees who stand to lose their jobs following a Calcutta High Court order on April 22 held a protest outside the SSC office in Salt Lake.
“We had submitted a list of the undeserving candidates to the division bench of Calcutta High Court. Similarly, we can hand over the list of the disputed candidates to the Supreme Court. The commission will definitely stand by those who are not guilty or those who cannot be identified as tainted. This is the stand of the commission,” Majumdar said
On April 25, Majumdar had said at a news conference that the commission had informed the high court through three affidavits that 5,300 teaching and non-teaching employees had got their jobs allegedly through unfair means.
The SSC chairman had made the comment while countering the court’s
statement that the commission did not cooperate in tracing the candidates who had got their jobs allegedly through unfair means.
On April 29, the Bengal government, SSC and the state secondary education board had submitted before the Supreme Court that the high court’s April 22 order scrapping the jobs of all 25,700 candidates who had been appointed based on their performance in the 2016 selection tests, because of possible irregularities in some appointments, violated the principles of natural justice.
Chief Justice Chandrachud then observed: “You have to demonstrate that… on the basis of material available, it is possible to segregate who all are validly and invalidly appointed; who are the beneficiaries of the frauds.”
The apex court will again hear the case on May 6.
The SSC chairperson on Friday said it was in this context that he said that they would try to assure the Supreme Court that it was possible to make a distinction between the deserving and the undeserving candidates.
“A section of those who stand to lose jobs following the Calcutta High Court order was staging a protest outside the SSC office. I told the media persons who came to the office that it was possible to make a distinction between those who are deserving and those who are not,” Majumdar told Metro later.
When this newspaper sought to know how the commission would make a distinction, an official said: “We could give the apex court a list of the candidates against whom there are no allegations so far.”
The counsel for the Bengal government had submitted in the Supreme Court on Monday that the high court judgment violated the Supreme Court ruling in the Inderpreet Singh Kahlon and Others vs State of Punjab in 2006, which said the entire selection process cannot be cancelled because of irregularities in some appointments.
The high court invalidated the appointments of 25,753 teaching and non-teaching employees at state-sponsored and aided schools because of irregularities in the State Level Selection Test, 2016
Mamata Banerjee addresses a rally at Memari in East Burdwan on Friday.: Munshi Muklesur Rahaman
Pranesh Sarkar, TT, Calcutta, 04.05.24 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday pledged that the BJP would stand by those teachers whose appointments had been cancelled by Calcutta High Court recently though they had landed jobs rightfully.
The high court invalidated the appointments of 25,753 teaching and non-teaching employees at state-sponsored and aided schools because of irregularities in the State Level Selection Test, 2016.
While promising to stand by those whose appointments were not tainted by charges of corruption, Modi said the BJP’s Bengal unit would set up a legal cell and a social media platform to assist them.
“The TMC extortionists cheated lakhs of youths in the recruitment of teachers…. You saw what kind of irregularities took place when it was found that machines got tired of counting bundles of currency notes. Many genuine teachers, who have proper documents, are also suffering because of the sin of others.… I have suggested that the Bengal BJP set up a legal cell and a social media platform to assist genuine teachers who lost their jobs,” Modi said during an election rally in Burdwan on Friday.
While addressing a rally in East Burdwan’s Raina later in the day, chief minister Mamata Banerjee tore into Modi and the BJP, holding them responsible for “eating 26,000 jobs”.
“Where were you Modi babu? You have eaten 26,000 jobs. Your party has eaten these jobs. Your party and the CPM have together eaten the jobs…. Your assistance is not required. The Bengal government has already engaged lawyers in the Supreme Court. The education department has also engaged lawyers. We would not let the youths lose their jobs,” said Mamata.
As a large number of teachers not tainted by chargesof corruption became the high court order’s collateral damage, Mamata held the Opposition, especially the BJP, responsible for the job losses.
The Prime Minister’s bid to address the concerns of genuine teachers who lost their jobs reflected the BJP’s unease with Mamata’s consistent effort to blame the saffron camp for the high court order.
“Elections have been held only in six Lok Sabha constituencies in Bengal so far and another 36 seats will go to the polls in the remaining five phases. Most of the affected teachers are residents of these 36 constituencies. So, the Prime Minister had to send a message particularly after the chief minister had vowed to stand by the teachers who lost jobs,” said a BJP leader.
Clarity on Kejriwal’s interim bail is expected to emerge on Tuesday when the court resumes hearing his appeal challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in the excise policy-linked money-laundering case
R. Balaji, TT, New Delhi, 04.05.24 : The Supreme Court on Friday hinted at releasing Arvind Kejriwal on interim bail in view of the elections and asked the Centre whether the Delhi chief minister could continue signing files from jail.
Clarity on Kejriwal’s interim bail is expected to emerge on Tuesday when the court resumes hearing his appeal challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in the excise policy-linked money-laundering case.
“We are not saying anything. We would like to consider grant of interim bail because of the elections. We may or may not grant bail. We are going to hear you. But if the hearing takes time, we may consider interim bail. We must be open to you, because neither side should be taken by surprise,” a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta told additional solicitor-general S.V. Raju and senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singh.
Raju was appearing for the ED while Singh represented Kejriwal.
While indicating the possibility of interim bail, Justice Khanna asked Raju to seek instructions from the Centre on whether Kejriwal could continue signing files despite being in jail.
“Also please take instructions, because of the position he (Kerjiwal) holds, whether he should be signing official files,” Justice Khanna said.
Agencies, 3 May 2024, Bardhaman (WB): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said he has asked the West Bengal BJP unit to create a separate legal cell to provide help to “genuine teachers and candidates” who have lost jobs due to the School Service Commission (SSC) scam.
While addressing an election rally at Bardhaman-Durgapur, Modi said “Although he wants those involved in corruption by the TMC to be punished but doesn’t want the innocent to suffer.” “The corruption that the TMC has done in Bengal in school recruitment is shameful.
Due to this scam, several genuine candidates have suffered. I have asked the Bengal BJP unit on behalf of the party to create a separate legal cell and social media platform to provide help to the genuine candidates and teachers,” he said.
“BJP will support such honest candidates and will provide them legal help and will fight for them. This is Modi’s guarantee,” he said.
Modi’s remarks came a week after the Calcutta High Court declared the recruitment process of the State Level Selection Test-20TMC16 (SLST) in West Bengal government-sponsored and aided schools as “null and void,” ordering the cancellation of all appointments made through it.
Around 26,000 people have lost jobs following the court order.
MP, 3 May 2024, JALPAIGURI: A person was fatally attacked by an elephant in the Mahabari Basti area adjacent to Chalsa in the Meteli Block of Jalpaiguri on Thursday night. The incident occurred when a wild elephant emerged from the nearby Panjhora Forest and ventured into the Mahabari Basti area, ultimately targeting victim Mangri Oraon’s (50) house. Despite his attempts to flee, the elephant caught and fatally crushed him on the spot. Upon receiving the news, cops from Meteli Police Station and forest personnel from the Khunia Squad arrived and recovered the victim’s body.
Youth found hanging from terrace
MP, 3 May 2024: Youth found hanging from terrace Siliguri: A youth was found hanging from the terrace of a residence in Shaktigarh area under Ward 31 of Siliguri Municipal Corporation on Friday. The deceased has been identified as Mithun Roy (19), from Haldibari.
He was working in a bar and living at the apartment on rent with his fellow employees. His colleagues said that he was suffering from depression and the night before his body was found, he was arguing with someone on a phone call.
A probe has begun.
About four held with drugs
MP, 3 May 2024, Siliguri: Three people were arrested with 205 grams of morphine on the Indo-Nepal border at Panitanki area on Thursday night by the SSB. Later the SSB jawans handed them over to Kharibari Police.
They were produced at Siliguri Court on Friday. In another incident, a youth was arrested with 17 grams of brown sugar from Matigara on Friday.
Sanchita Aich Bag, MP, 4 May 2024, Siliguri: The Bengal Safari Park authorities have introduced their newest members to visitors this summer vacation. After nearly two months, five newborn cubs of Royal Bengal Tigress Sheela were escorted out of the night shelter into the display area.
The cubs made their debut in the ‘kraal’ (enclosure) this week, where visitors will be able to see them. However, they won’t be released for safari in open enclosures at the moment. It will take more time before they can roam freely in the safari area.
Meanwhile, the two lions from Tripura are expected to be ready for safari in July. Vijay Kumar, Director of Bengal Safari Park, stated: “All five cubs, one male and four females, are healthy and in good spirits.
Round-the-clock surveillance is ongoing but they are still too young to be released for the safari. They have been moved from the night shelters to ‘kraals’ or small enclosures for public viewing.” Recently, Sourav Chowdhury,
Member Secretary of the West Bengal Zoo Authority, and Bhaskar J V, Chief Forest Officer (Wildlife), visited the park to inspect the condition of the new cubs and lions. The Member Secretary of the Zoo Authority expressed satisfaction with the cubs’ health condition.
Sheela gave birth to five cubs at the Bengal Safari Park on March 6. With this, Sheela became a mother for the fourth time. Sheela gave birth to seven cubs earlier.
This time, Sheela and Vivaan, the Royal Bengal Tiger couple, gave birth to five cubs. With this, the number of Royal Bengal Tigers at the Safari Park stood at 14. Out of which, six are male and eight are female.
The park authorities are hopeful that these new cubs will attract more tourists to the park.
MP, 4 May 2024, Darjeeling: Luxman Pradhan, veteran politician of the Hills, owing allegiance to the All India Gorkha League (AIGL), passed away on Friday morning in Darjeeling. He was 78 years old.
Though he was suffering from kidney ailment and blood sugar, the condition of his health was not all that bad.
At around 5 am, he woke up and when he got out of bed he became senseless and then passed away, stated family sources.
People from all walks of life paid tribute to the departed leader. Condolences poured in from different political camps.
“I knew him as a Union leader, working relentlessly for the welfare of tea garden workers. He spent his life fighting for their rights. The death of Luxman Pradhan has left a vacuum in the trade union movement in the Hills,” stated Aniit Thapa, Chief Executive, GTA.
Courtesy & source- Millennium Post https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/veteran-leader-luxman-pradhan-passes-away-562420
MP, 4 May 2024, Siliguri: Two people from Cooch Behar were arrested for allegedly duping money in two separate cases. Complaints for both the cases were lodged in 2023 at Panitanki Out Post.
Police arrested both the accused at the same place in Cooch Behar on Thursday. In one case, Moumita Nag, a resident of Hakimpara area of Siliguri, met a 25-year-old youth named Devkant Dey on social media.
A brother-sister relationship developed between the two. After gaining Moumita’s trust, Devkanth took money from her several times by promising her that he would double the money. He took about Rs 10 lakh from Moumita and absconded.
On October 9, 2023, Moumita lodged a complaint. In the second case, another person named Sanat Talukdar from Cooch Behar was arrested by the police of Panitanki Outpost on charges of cheating a resident of Jalpaiguri on the pretext of providing a loan from the bank.
Shyamal Sarkar, a resident of Jalpaiguri, took a loan of Rs 2 lakh from a bank in Siliguri last year. The accused, Sanat Talukder, was an employee of that bank.
There, Shyamal gave Rs 1 lakh to Sanat to submit to the bank, but he deposited the money to his own bank account. Later, on September 22, 2023, Shyamal lodged a complaint. Both the accused were produced in Siliguri Court on Friday.
