Kolkata Mar 30 PTI Teachers of Jadavpur University JU have threatened to boycott the examination process if the institution yields to some agitating engineering students demand that the final semester tests be held online by reversing its decision to conduct the exercise in the offline modeSome engineering students had gheraoed Vice Chancellor Suranjan Das on the campus for 10 hours on Monday to press for their demand On Tuesday he did not attend workTerming the students demand as unjust the Jadavpur University Teachers Association JUTA and the institutions chapter of the All Bengal University Teachers Association ABUTA said they will boycott the examination process if the decision to hold it offline is reversedJUTA has taken a unanimous decision to not take part in the process if the final semester engineering examination is conducted in the online mode instead of the already adopted decision of the examination board to hold it offline on the campus this year as it will mean giving in to the unjust demand of a section of the pupils the teachers bodys general secretary Partha Pratim Roy told PTIABUTA also echoed JUTA in describing the students demand as unjust and criticising the gherao of the VCOur member teachers will also refrain from participating in the examination process if it is conducted online ABUTA spokesperson Goutam Maity saidVice Chancellor Das however said that the examination boards decision is final and will not be reversedWe will not give in to such demands of the students I have told them categorically during the gherao that the examination will be held offline this time he saidA spokesperson of FETSU Faculty of Engineering and Technology Students Union said that as classes were held in online mode in the last two years the final semester examination should also be held online PTI SUS ACD ACD

Kolkata Feb 24 PTI West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday urged all state-owned banks to ensure speedy clearance of student credit card applications while reiterating that her government will be the guarantor Banerjee while presiding over a programme on the distribution of student credit cards said that her government has already issued such cards to 5000 students and sanctioned 20000 more Under the state government scheme students can avail education loans of up to Rs 10 lakh for a simple interest over 15 years The chief minister said that her government has allocated Rs 5042 crore for the scheme Cooperative banks are already performing their roles I urge all state-owned banks to come forward with the same spirit Please ensure speedy clearance of the proposals The government stands as the guarantor for each credit recipient Hence the sanctioned amount is guaranteed money There will be no defaulter she said Banerjee said the TMC government is committed to ensuring better facilities and amenities for school and college students She said that 77 lakh female students have already come under the ambit of the Kanyashree scheme and nine lakh class 11 and 12 students have received smartphones and tablets She said that her government has constructed 30 new universities 14 new medical colleges and 3000 schools including 365 Santhali ones West Bengal now tops the foundation literacy index list she said Without naming anyone Banerjee alleged that someone is demanding an audit of financial matters of private universities whereas only the state government can call for such an audit I have come to know that someone is demanding an audit of your financial matters I tell you that only the government can ask for such an audit So dont get scared and work fearlessly she told authorities of private universities The TMC had earlier accused Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar of meddling in the academic and administrative affairs of private universities after he summoned authorities of 11 private universities of the state for a meeting to discuss their financial matters However the authorities had not attended the meeting PTI SUS ACD ACD

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

Kolkata Jan 29 PTI West Bengals COVID-19 tally rose to 1990179 on Saturday as 3512 people tested positive for the infection 293 less than the previous day a health bulletin said Thirty-five more patients succumbed to the infection pushing the states coronavirus death toll to 20550 it said The state had registered 3805 cases and 34 fatalities on Friday Of the 3512 cases 459 were reported in Kolkata and 433 in neighbouring North 24 Parganas district Ten fatalities were recorded in North 24 Parganas five in South 24 Parganas four in Hooghly and three in Kolkata The number of active cases dipped by 7811 to 37918 while 1931711 people recovered from the disease so far including 11288 in the last 24 hours The positivity rate stood at 565 per cent as 62125 samples were tested in the last 24 hours taking the total number of such clinical examinations to 23126157 The recovery rate among the coronavirus patients improved to 9706 per cent from 9667 per cent on Friday The mortality rate stood at 103 per cent PTI SUS ACD ACD

Kolkata Jan 27 PTI West Bengals COVID-19 tally rose to 1982862 on Thursday as 3608 people tested positive for the infection 1361 less than the previous day a health bulletin said Thirty-six more people succumbed to the infection pushing the states death toll to 20481 North 24 Parganas district recorded the highest number of new cases at 524 followed by 423 in Kolkata Fourteen fatalities were reported in North 24 Parganas followed by eight in Kolkata and four in South 24 Parganas The number of active cases dipped by 11644 to 55725 A total of 1906656 people have recovered from the disease so far including 15216 in the last 24 hours The recovery rate has improved to 9616 per cent from 9556 per cent on the previous day The positivity rate however rose to 902 per cent from 732 per cent on Wednesday as 40019 samples were tested for COVID-19 taking the total number of such clinical examinations to 23002149 A total of 64739 doses of COVID vaccines were administered during the day PTI SUS ACD ACD

Kolkata Jan 23 PTI West Bengals COVID-19 tally rose to 1965245 on Sunday as 6980 people tested positive for the infection 2211 less than the previous day a health bulletin said Thirty-six fresh fatalities pushed the states coronavirus death toll to 20338 Kolkata reported the highest number of 973 new cases closely followed by 960 in neighbouring North 24 Parganas district Ten fatalities were registered in Kolkata and six each in Howrah and Birbhum the bulletin said The number of active cases declined by 13474 to 110183 As many as 20418 more people were cured of the disease taking the total number of recoveries to 1834724 it said adding that the discharge rate improved to 9336 per cent from 9265 per cent on Saturday The positivity rate stood at 953 per cent as 73214 samples were tested for COVID-19 taking the total number of such clinical examinations to 22779724 it added PTI SUS ACD ACD

Kolkata Dec 31 PTI Kolkatas new Commissioner of Police Vineet Kumar Goyal on Friday urged people to adopt COVID appropriate behaviour due to a spike in fresh cases The state registered more than 1000 new cases on Wednesday after a gap of nearly six months The daily count crossed 2000 on Thursday Goyal a 1994-batch IPS officer took charge as the 44th Commissioner of Kolkata Police from Soumen Mitra who retired during the day Goyal was the Additional Director General ADG of the state polices Special Task Force STF in his last assignment The officer outlined his plans to boost the capabilities of Kolkata Police to battle cybercrime We all went through a difficult phase during the COVID-19 pandemic and the police was in full strength to assist people during the lockdown and afterward Things had subsequently eased a bit but the coronavirus is striking back again and cases are on the rise We wish people to cooperate with police and administration to face the emerging situation We ask everyone to adopt COVID appropriate behaviour follow the instructions of the state government and wear masks and avoid gathering he said Goyal said that from one cyber cell at the headquarters the Kolkata Police has now set up cyber cell units in each police station Our personnel have already solved many cases and we aim to strengthen the cyber cell as criminals are adapting to new technologies he said The Commissioner of Police said that visibility on roads and coming to the help of people including women and the elderly is an important factor for any modern city police force and Kolkata Police is highly rated in this But we must try to be more conspicuous he added PTI SUS ACD ACD

Kolkata Dec 27 PTI West Bengals COVID-19 tally rose to 1631065 on Monday as 439 more people tested positive for the infection while 10 fresh fatalities pushed the states coronavirus death toll to 19726 a health bulletin said Kolkata reported the highest number of 204 new cases while Hooghly and North 24 Parganas districts registered the maximum of three fresh fatalities each it said The state now has 7433 active cases while 1603906 people have been cured of the disease so far including 446 on Monday the bulletin said adding that the recovery rate stood at 9833 per cent The administration has thus far tested over 212 crore samples for COVID-19 including 17404 during the day PTI SUS ACD ACD

Kolkata Dec 19 PTI Polling in all the 144 wards of Kolkata Municipal Corporation KMC began at 7 AM on Sunday with strict adherence to COVID-19 protocols amid tight security arrangements State Election Commission Secretary Nilanjan Sandilya said that all necessary measures have been taken to ensure free and fair elections Voting is being held at 4959 polling booths and it will continue till 5 PM he said Around 23000 Kolkata Police personnel have been deployed across the city and route marches and area domination exercises conducted in various parts of the metropolis an officer of the force said More than 200 police pickets have also been set up at crucial points across the city he said The ruling Trinamool Congress is fighting to retain the civic board for the third consecutive term while the BJP will contest CPIM to secure the second position The TMC had swept all the 16 assembly segments in the metropolis in this years assembly elections The counting of votes will take place on December 21 PTI SUS ACD ACD

Kolkata Nov 28 PTI An exhibition showcasing the rich tapestry of Bengals paintings ended on Sunday after almost two years organisers said The exhibition titled Ghare Baire was being held at the 188-year-old Currency Building in central Kolkata since January 11 2020 The exhibition showcasing 200 years of Bengals art had received a very good response from the people in the last four months But we have to down the curtains at this place for now DAG Deputy Director Sumona Chakravarty told PTI We will certainly return with exhibits in the future but location or date cant be specified now office-bearer of the private art firm said Paintings dating back to 18th-20th century of renowned artists such as Abanindranath Tagore Gaganendranath Tagore Nandalal Bose Ramkinkar Bej Bikash Bhattacharya and Ganesh Pyne were showcased in the exhibition The exhibition also housed an exclusive gallery on legendary filmmaker author and illustrator Satyajit Ray It was commissioned by the Centres Ministry of Culture and curated and organised by DAG in association with National Gallery of Modern Art Nearly 600 artworks most of which were from DAGs collection were exhibited The pre-COVID initial response to the exhibition was very good but the pandemic had affected the footfall However the scenario had changed in the last four months she added PTI SUS ACD ACD