Kolkata Feb 20 PTI Veteran Trinamool Congress leader and senior West Bengal minister Sadhan Pande died at a hospital in Mumbai on Sunday following prolonged illness Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said He was 71 and is survived by his daughter Shreya Our senior colleague party leader and Cabinet Minister Sadhan Pande has passed away today morning at Mumbai Had a wonderful relation for long Deeply pained at this loss My heartfelt condolences to his family friends followers Banerjee tweeted In another condolence message the chief minister said that she has lost an elder and would miss his advice on various matters Pande was a five-time MLA from Burtola constituency in North Kolkata till 2011 when TMC came to power in the state and was elected from Maniktala seat since then The veteran TMC leader was ailing for the past one year He was retained as a cabinet minister after the the party returned to power for the third consecutive term last year but was not allocated any portfolio due to his ill health He was suffering from kidney ailments and he was shifted to Mumbai from state-run SSKM Hospital in Kolkata sometime back He was in a critical condition in the last few days party sources said Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar also condoled Pandes death tweeting Sad news- Deeply pained at passing away of Senior Cabinet Minister Sadhan Pande today morning at Mumbai Shared wonderful relationship and personal rapport with him beyond politics Heartfelt condolences to his family friends and followers RIP Om Shanti Om Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari expressed his condolences Saddened by the passing away of West Bengal Minister Shri Sadhan Pande ji My thoughts are with his bereaved family friends followers Prayers for the departed soul Om Shanti he said in a Twitter post BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said that he was good friends with Pande despite ideological and political differences He was a nice person He had vast experience as a legislator and discharged with aplomb his responsibilities as minister including Consumer Affairs Department Bhattacharya said Party colleague Sovandeb Chatterjee said that Pande was a name to reckon with in North Kolkata politics and he had fought the CPIM in many movements He was very outspoken and never minced any word even before Mamata Banerjee during cabinet meetings the agriculture minister added PTI SUS ACD ACD

Mumbai Jan 20 PTI Playback singer-composer Shaan on Thursday revealed that his mother Sonali Mukherjee has diedThe 49-year-old musician posted a family statement on his Instagram page saying that his mother passed away peacefully in her sleepWe are deeply saddened and heartbroken by the demise of our mother Mrs Sonali Mukherjee She passed away peacefully in her sleep the statement which was also signed by Shaans wife Radhika sister Sagarika and her husband Martin readRemembering his mother Shaan said she was a kind soul great human being and a loving motherIt is a huge loss for us all While wetry and say our last goodbyes we would like you to keep COVID restrictions in mind and humbly request you to keep her in your prayers the Tanha Dil singer saidEarlier in the day singer Kailash Kher broke the news about Mukherjees demise and extended his condolencesElder brother Shaans mother passed away Prayers to the Almighty for the departed soulIt is a prayer to Lord Shiva the ruler of all the three worlds that our brother Shaans family should get the strength to bear this sorrow he wroteMany film personalities sent their condolences to Shaan and his familyActor Tiger Shroff wrote in the comments condolences to the family sir She is happy and healthy where she is Classical musician Ayaan Ali Khan posted Om shanti Praying for her soul and sending you all my love singershaan PTI KKP RB RB

Srinagar Dec 24 PTI Authorities on Friday stopped congregational Friday prayers at historic Jamia Masjid in Srinagar for the 20th consecutive week Jamia Masjid the 14th century building is the only major place of worship in the valley closed for congregational prayers by the authorities The officials did not give any reason for the continuous closure of the mosque which was shut down initially in August 2019 in the wake of abrogation of Article 370 by the Centre The mosque was briefly opened in December 2019 but closed again in April as part of the government curbs on large gatherings to combat the COVID wave Prayers were allowed on first Friday of August this year but since then the mosque has been closed Anjuman Auqaf Jamia Masjid Srinagar which manages the affairs of the mosque expressed strong resentment over the decision The Anjuman and the Muslims of Kashmir are unable to understand that on the one hand all the places of worship mosques shrines imambargahs and khanqahs in Jammu and Kashmir are open for Friday prayers but only Jamia Masjid Srinagar continues to be selectively banned and restricted from holding Friday prayers which is extremely unfortunate and incomprehensible the Anjuman said in a statement It said the decision to close the mosque tantamount to sheer interference in religion and hurting the religious sentiments and feelings of Muslims This is unacceptable it added PTI MIJ VN VN