West Bengal

On the first day in office in her third term as the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday effected a major reshuffle in the police hierarchy, transferring 29 top officers, mostly bringing back policemen to their former positions who were transferred by the Election Commission during the recently concluded Assembly polls.

Hours after taking the responsibility of the state for the third time in a row, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said, "All local trains to be suspended from tomorrow till further notice and only 50 per cent of the state transport will ply on roads following the increase of Covid cases in the state. Lots of outsiders had come to the state in the last three months and now we will have to control it".

In a tweet, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "Congratulations to Mamata Didi on taking oath as West Bengal's Chief Minister." Banerjee took oath as Chief Minister on Wednesday in the shadow of Covid pandemic and reports of violence in some parts of the state. Banerjee, in her trademark white Sari and shawl, took oath in Bengali.

West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar wanted the chief minister to work hand-in-hand with the Centre with a new approach of "cooperative federalism'. Dhankar who has always been accused by the chief minister and Trinamool congress leaders of being a spokesperson of BJP said after the oath taking ceremony, "I congratulate Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for her third term.

Mamata Banerjee after taking her oath as West Bengal CM for the third consecutive time in an unembellished function at the 'Throne Room' in Raj Bhavan in Kolkata on Wednesday morning announced that handling the Covid situation in the state and tackling post poll violence and the overall law and order situation in the state will be her priority.

The plea has been filed by Tamil Nadu-based Indic Collective Trust through lawyer Suvidutt M.S. The petitioner sought urgent relief in view of the 'widespread violence' and 'disruption of law and order' that has erupted in the aftermath of the assembly elections in West Bengal, and the 'failure' of the state machinery in protecting the life and liberty of its citizens.

In a tweet, Dhankhar informed that the Prime Minister called him to take stock of the alarmingly worrisome law and order situation in the state where reports of arson and violence came from parts of the state on Sunday evening even as trends and results of the Assembly election were pouring in.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has claimed that six of its party workers were killed in this violence, allegedly perpetrated by TMC workers. According to the BJP, an elderly woman who was trying to save her son from the violent mob was killed and a party worker in Kolkata was lynched soon after he posted videos on Facebook about the goons killing his pet dogs.

An order issued under the powers conferred in Section 22 of the Disaster Management Act by Chief Secretary Alapan Bandopadhyay said that all shopping complexes, malls, cinemas halls, beauty parlours, restaurants and bars, gyms, swimming pools, spas and sports complexes will remain closed till further notice.

A powerful earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale jolted Assam, other northeastern states and adjoining North Bengal while nine aftershocks were recorded in the hours after the first quake which shook Sonitpur in northern Assam at 7.51 a.m. on Wednesday morning