Bengal
With just a day left for the opening of the 49th International Kolkata Book Fair, the Boimela prangon in saltlake awaits to attract crowd from all across the globe. The usual winter afternoon calm is broken by the sound of hammering, and the smell of fresh paint as workers are determined to complete the preparations on time.
The Supreme Court on Monday (January 19, 2026) criticised the Election Commission for the “stress and strain” caused, through its ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, to the ordinary people of the State of West Bengal, where 1.36 crore people, almost 20% of the population, have received notices from the poll body to explain “logical discrepancies” in their names and family backgrounds
Ruling dispensation Trinamool Congress and principal Opposition outfit BJP are shouting of reaping political advantage before Assembly election even though dust is yet to settle on a Enforcement Directorate (ED) raid at two offices of I-PAC in Kolkata recently. With chief minister and TMC supremo, Mamata Banerjee storming into the office of I-PAC, her party’s political consultant and emerging with a green file and a lap top stated to be containing TMC poll game plan, senior TMC leaders are claiming political advantage while her action is being looked upon as an instance of obstructing governmental investigation by the saffron camp.
Calling it a ‘historic day’ Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday laid the foundation stone of ‘Durga Angan’, a cultural complex dedicated to Goddess Durga, at New Town, asserting that the project will not only serve as “another feather” in the crown of Bengal but will also create employment opportunities and highlight state’s art, culture and diversity to the world.
An analysis of the names deleted during the first phase of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Kolkata and its adjoining regions of Behala, Salt Lake and Newtown reveals that the most common surnames excluded during the electoral exercise are ‘Das’ and ‘Singh’.
In a dramatic rejection of the Union Government’s conditions to resume the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme in West Bengal after a three-year gap, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee publicly tore up the Centre’s note on the issue on Tuesday (December 9, 2025).
The Calcutta High Court on Thursday disqualified senior political leader Mukul Roy from the West Bengal Legislative Assembly for violating the anti-defection law.
Raj Bhavan’s expansive green area became an emotional festivity of one-ness and common delight on the third year of the Governor’s current term. To mark the milestone, the Governor turned the celebration into a social-committed gesture rather than a grand show – organizing community marriages for the couples of two common people families.
In the run-up to the West Bengal Assembly elections slated for March-April next year, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the principal Opposition BJP are caught in a new conflict, this time over two of the state’s cultural icons – Rabindranath Tagore and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.
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