Kolkata Apr 18 PTI The West Bengal government on Monday decided to write to the Centre urging it to increase the allotment of IAS and IPS officers as the state administration is planning to raise the number of districts and that will require more such officialsState Industry Minister Partha Chatterjee claimed that some neighbouring states that are smaller than West Bengal have more IAS and IPS officers compared to what this state hasThe state Cabinet on Monday okayed a proposal to constitute a panel of officials to recruit more West Bengal Civil Service WBCS and Police Service WBPS officers to run the administration more efficiently Chatterjee said We have 23 districts and restructuring of the districts is being done Some neighbouring smaller states with 20-22 districts have more IAS and IPS officers compared to what our state hasThe CM has asked the chief secretary to write a letter to the USPC to increase the allotment of fresh IAS and IPS cadres for West Bengal because we will be having more districts he saidThe Cabinet also decided to fill up a total of 11551 vacancies in the health department with contractual temporary workers primarily for the infrastructure development in urban and rural areas Chatterjee saidThere will also be recruitment for 342 vacancies for data entry operators in the food and supplies departments he addedThe industry minister said that a decision was also taken to allot land to chip and semiconductor manufacturers at the states Silicon Valley Hub in the cityChatterjee said the state Cabinet also decided to provide government jobs to the family members of 26 people who were killed in lightning strikes in Hooghly and Murshidabad districts last yearTransport Minister Firhad Hakim said that the Cabinet decided to streamline the fee structure of the trucks used for exportsWe have noticed that the fee structure for trucks taking goods across the border is abnormal We have decided to streamline this he said Hakim also said that it was also decided to allow the movement of vehicles carrying perishable goods on a priority basis so that exporters can avoid lossHe said that the department will soon be issuing a notification in this regardThe state Cabinet also okayed recruitment of staff on contractual basis for parking lots in land ports Hakim saidThe state government has taken direct control of the parking lots that were under the respective local bodiesThe transport department will pay the salary of the staff he said PTI SCH NN NN

Kolkata Mar 23 PTI The logo which will feature on the new common uniform of all state-run schools belongs to the West Bengal government and not the ruling Trinamool Congress Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on WednesdayThe Biswa Bangla logo will prove that the dress was provided by the state government she saidThe authorities have decided that all government and government-aided schools of West Bengal will have a common uniform in blue and white colour scheme and the dress will feature the Biswa Bangla logo of the state government sparking a controversy Currently each school has its own colour-coded uniformSpeaking for the first time on the issue Banerjee said This the new uniform is not for private schools but those run by the state government We provide the dress free of cost The logo will prove that the uniform has been given by the state government Banerjee said If it was in Delhi they would have used their photographs on the uniform she said without elaboratingThough the Biswa Bangla logo would be there state-run schools will be free to use their own badges the chief minister said at a government programme hereThis is a brand of the government Someone went to the court and said that it is a logo of the TMC I do not want to comment on the court matter she saidBanerjee said she had drawn the logo and given it to the state government following proper legal stepsMost of the logos of the state government have been created by me I have not taken any money for that she saidOn Sunday the state education department had issued a circular stating that students from pre-primary to class eight in all state-run schools will wear the new uniformAt the event organised by the departments of women and child development and social welfare the chief minister launched an expansion programme of the Widow Pension SchemeCurrently more than 13 lakh women are covered under the widow pension scheme with each woman receiving Rs 1000 directly in their bank accounts at the beginning of every monthBanerjee said eight lakh more women would be benefited from the expansionI had launched the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme because people had lost much due to their Centres demonetisation programme Till today at least 175 crore women in West Bengal have been enrolled under this scheme she saidLakshmir Bhandar scheme provides a monthly allowance to women heads of familiesThe CM said that over 233 crore people have been brought under the Swasthya Sathi scheme while 77 lakh girls have been benefited from the Kanyashree schemeSwasthya Sathi is the state governments health insurance programme while Kanyashree is a conditional cash transfer scheme for girl studentsAt the programme Banerjee directed the councillors present there to ensure that funds meant for the common people under the scheme reach them PTI SCH NN NN

Kolkata Mar 22 PTI West Bengal on Tuesday reported 75 new Covid-19 cases 48 more than the previous days figure taking the tally to 2016917 the health department said in a bulletinThe state registered two more coronavirus fatalities in the last 24 hours pushing the death toll to 21197 it addedWest Bengal had on Monday recorded 27 new cases of Covid-19 and one fresh fatalityAltogether 90 patients recovered from the disease since Monday taking the total number of cured people to 1994887 the bulletin saidThe number of active cases is 833 nowAt least 16540 samples have been tested for coronavirus in the state in the last 24 hours taking the total number of such clinical examinations to 24625914 it added PTI SCH NN NN

Kolkata Jan 26 PTI West Bengals Covid-19 tally went up to 1979254 on Wednesday when 4969 fresh cases 475 more than the previous days count were registered the health department said in a bulletinThe death toll increased to 20445 as 34 people succumbed to the disease during the dayIn the last 24 hours 17734 recoveries were reported which improved the recovery rate to 9556 per cent On Tuesday it was 9491 per cent So far 1891440 people have been cured of the disease in the stateThe number of active cases declined by 12799 from Tuesday to 67369 the bulletin saidThe positivity rate also rose to 732 per cent from yesterdays 712 per centSince Tuesday 67862 samples were tested for Covid-19 taking the total number of such clinical examinations to 22962130Of the new positive cases North 24 Parganas district registered the maximum at 697 while Kolkata accounted for 654 infections the bulletin saidIt said seven and six fresh fatalities were recorded in North 24 Parganas and Kolkata respectivelyOn Wednesday 61858 doses of Covid vaccines were administered in the state a health department official said PTI SCH NN NN

Kolkata Jan 25 PTI West Bengal on Tuesday registered 4494 fresh Covid-19 cases 52 less than the previous days figure pushing the tally to 1974285 the health department said in a bulletinThe state also recorded 36 new fatalities due to the disease which took the death toll to 20411The number of active cases slipped by 14367 in a day to 80168 the bulletin saidOf the fresh fatalities South 24 Parganas district recorded the maximum at nine while Kolkata and North 24 Parganas district accounted for seven deaths each the bulletin saidThe positivity rate improved to 712 per cent from Mondays 884 per centIn the last 24 hours 18825 patients recovered from the disease in the state taking the discharge rate to 9491 per cent So far 1873706 people have been cured of the diseaseSince Monday 63123 samples have been tested for coronavirus taking the total number of such tests to 22894268 it addedOn Tuesday 624034 doses of Covid-19 vaccines were administered in West Bengal a health department official said PTI SCH NN NN

Kolkata Jan 22 PTI The World Bank has approved a loan of around Rs 1000 crore to the West Bengal government primarily to support its effort to help the poor and vulnerable groups access its social protection servicesAccording to a statement released by the state government on Saturday the loan will help the administration improve services such as medical help through telemedicine support for the elderly and differently-abled financial inclusion of citizens with digital payments and disbursement of benefits for public schemesThe World Bank on January 19 has sanctioned a 125 million about Rs 1000 crore loan to the government of West Bengal to support the states effort to help the poor and vulnerable groups access social protection services the statement readThe loan under the West Bengal Building State Capability for Inclusive Social Protection operation will strengthen the capability of this state to expand coverage and access to social assistance and targeted service for poor and vulnerable groups it saidWhen contacted a top official of the West Bengal government said This loan will strengthen the states capability to expand its coverage and reach out to the thousands of poor people with its welfare programmes The Mamata Banerjee government runs over 400 programmes that provide social assistance protection care services and jobs the statement said PTI SCH NN NN

Kolkata Jan 21 PTI At least four men looted cash and jewellery from the residence of a woman lawyer in Beliaghata area of Kolkata on Friday evening police saidThe four barged into her flat on the third floor of a building inside a housing complex on Surah East Road at around 745 pm tied up her parents and a brother before carrying out the lootAfter preliminary investigations police suspect that at least one of the robbers was known to the lawyerOur investigation is on We are trying to spot the miscreants as we have got an idea about them from the CCTVs installed in the housing complex a police officer said PTI SCH NN NN

Kolkata Jan 21 PTI The State Election Commission SEC of West Bengal has directed the police to start area domination and route march as a confidence building measure of voters ahead of the polls in four municipal corporations next monthThe SEC has also directed that all borders be sealed and incoming vehicles be vigorously checkedArea domination and route march as confidence building measures to the electors to be conducted All incomplete buildings community halls marriage halls lodges guest houses hotels stadiums shall be vigorously checked and kept under watch to obviate the possibility of harbooring of miscreants or stockpiling of arms and particularly to ensure that any group of outsiders is not accommodated in any such place the SEC said in a directiveThe SEC recently postponed the elections to municipal corporations of Siliguri Chandernagore Bidhannagar and Asansol by three weeks from January 22 to February 12 in the wake of rising COVID-19 casesThe poll body also directed the police to go for preventive detention of criminals from 5 pm a day before the polling day till the completion of the pollSecurity forces should be alert to ensure there is no rigging or booth capturing it said PTI SCH NN NN

Kolkata Jan 18 PTI West Bengal on Tuesday registered 10430 new coronavirus cases 1045 less than the previous days count pushing the tally to 1917514 the health department said in a bulletinAltogether 34 fresh fatalities due to Covid-19 including 10 from Kolkata took the toll to 20155 it saidIn the last 24 hours 13308 patients recovered from the disease taking the total number of cured people in the state to 1741648The discharge rate improved marginally to 9083 per cent from Mondays 9063 per centThe number of active cases now is 155711 the bulletin addedSince Monday West Bengal tested 53824 samples for Covid-19 taking the total number of such clinical examinations to 22416437 the bulletin said PTI SCH NN NN

Kolkata Jan 17 PTI The number of West Bengals daily Covid-19 cases came down to less than 10000 after 12 days on Monday when 9385 new infections were recorded according to the health department dataThe number of fresh cases on Monday is 5553 less than Sundays as the tally went up to 1907084 Altogether 33 fresh fatalities down from the previous days 36 took the death toll to 20121 the health department said in a bulletinThe state had registered 19064 new infections and 39 deaths on SaturdayThe number of samples tested for Covid-19 on January 17 16 and 15 was 35515 53876 and 64572 respectivelyThe total number of samples examined so far in the state is 23362613 the bulletin said The positivity rate now improved to 2643 per cent from Sundays 2773 per centKolkata reported seven fresh fatalities and 1879 new cases 2014 less than what the figure was on Sunday North 24 Parganas district recorded 11 fatalities and 1863 new positive cases In the last 24 hours 11034 coronavirus patients recovered The discharge rate in the state now is 9063 per cent the bulletin saidSo far 1728340 people have recovered from the disease in West Bengal The number of active cases decreased by 1682 in a day to 158623The state on Monday administered 878341 Covid-19 vaccine doses a health department official saidOut of them 103968 doses were administered to people belonging to the 15-17 years age group while 61903 booster doses were given to those eligible for it he added PTI SCH NN NN