Monideepa Banerjie

Xi's Message In 3-Hour Speech: Chinese-Ness

Blog | Monideepa Banerjie | Thursday October 19, 2017

When the world is moving Right -- white supremacy, Hindutva, the Neo Nazis -- and the parochial is replacing the 'global village' circa 1990s, what does China do? Xi Jinping has an answer.

Massive Fire In 19-Storey Building In Kolkata, No Casualties Reported

Kolkata News | Written by Monideepa Banerjie | Thursday October 19, 2017

A massive fire broke out around 10 am on the 16th floor of the LIC building on Jawaharlal Nehru Road in central Kolkata. The floor housed the server room of the State Bank of India's (SBI) global market office. The chief general manager (Kolkata circle) of SBI, PP Sengupta, said there was no news of anyone getting stuck on the floor.

No Pullout Of Central Forces From Darjeeling For Now, Says Court

India News | Written by Monideepa Banerjie | Tuesday October 17, 2017

Mamata Banerjee has won a point she made yesterday against the Centre, with the High Court agreeing that paramilitary forces cannot be withdrawn at this moment from the trouble-torn Darjeeling hills of Bengal.

Darjeeling Crisis: Mamata Banerjee, Home Ministry Lock Horns Over Central Forces

India News | Written by Monideepa Banerjie | Tuesday October 17, 2017

For the third time in two months, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met leaders from the hills on Monday to solve the Darjeeling crisis. But this time, another issue took over: The Union Home Ministry's decision to pull out 10 of 15 companies of central paramilitary forces deployed in Darjeeling.

Mamata Banerjee, Gorkha Leaders Discuss Peace In Darjeeling: 10 Facts

India News | Written by Monideepa Banerjie | Monday October 16, 2017

This afternoon, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is meeting leaders of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, which led an agitation earlier this year alleging that Ms Banerjee's Trinamool Congress government was attempting to impose the Bengali language in Darjeeling schools. The chief minister has invited some other local political leaders from Da...

4 Houses Opposite Bimal Gurung's Deserted Home in Darjeeling Destroyed In Fire

India News | Written by Monideepa Banerjie | Monday October 16, 2017

In Darjeeling, at least four houses opposite the deserted home of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leader Bimal Gurung were set on fire a little after midnight on Saturday. The houses were reportedly empty. Police investigation is yet to ascertain who was behind the incident.

Was Darjeeling Gunfight Planted? GJM's Bimal Gurung Camp Raises Question

India News | Written by Monideepa Banerjie | Friday October 13, 2017

The Bimal Gurung faction of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has questioned the police operation in Darjeeling today in which a police officer was shot dead, allegedly by supporters of Mr Gurung at a forest area where the GJM chief was suspected to be hiding.

Narada Case: CBI Photographs 'Alleged Crime' Site At Kolkata Mayor Office

India News | Written by Monideepa Banerjie | Friday October 13, 2017

There are new twists and turns in the Narada case that the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate are investigating in Kolkata. Today, the CBI walked into the office of Kolkata mayor Sovan Chatterjee, who is also one of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's closest confidants in the Trinamool Congress.

Cop Killed In Encounter With Suspected Supporters Of Gorkha Leader

India News | Reported by Monideepa Banerjie, Edited by Debanish Achom | Friday October 13, 2017

A police officer has been shot dead in Darjeeling as a hail of gunfire erupted between police and suspected gunmen loyal to Bimal Gurung, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leader who is on the run

'Compelled To Quit Trinamool With Heavy Heart,' Says Mukul Roy

India News | Written by Monideepa Banerjie | Wednesday October 11, 2017

Mukul Roy, long-time Trinamool Congress leader seen as the right-hand man of Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, quit the party and his Rajya Sabha seat today. Amid speculations that he was joining the BJP, Mr Roy later told the media that he would reveal his future plans only after Diwali.

In Kolkata, Flights, Traffic Disrupted By Non-Stop Rain And Strong Squalls

India News | Written by Monideepa Banerjie | Tuesday October 10, 2017

Passengers from Lucknow flying into Kolkata have ended up at Varanasi. Those from Bengaluru have ended up at Guwahati and a flight from Mumbai ended up in Dhaka.

Jams In Kolkata After Night-Long Rain, Flights And Trains Affected

Kolkata News | Written by Monideepa Banerjie | Monday October 9, 2017

Night-long rain and winds at 30 to 40 km an hour brought down dozens of trees in Kolkata, disrupting rush-hour traffic on Monday as the city returned to work after a long Durga Puja break. Incoming flights could not land because of the weather, so hundreds of outgoing passengers are stuck at Kolkata Airport. The Railways has reported disruption bec...

Driver Faints, Falls Out Of Moving Train In West Bengal

India News | Written by Monideepa Banerjie | Monday October 2, 2017

The driver of a local train fell so sick while at the wheel today that he fainted and fell right off the train. Fortunately for passengers, the train automatically came to a halt as the driver had taken his hand off the "dead man's switch" - the automatic switch that gets triggered if the operator becomes incapacitated.

Only A Handful Of Bengal Puja Organisers Immerse Idols Today

India News | Monideepa Banerjie | Sunday October 1, 2017

On Bijoya Dashami, the end of Durga Puja, only a handful of pandal organisers across West Bengal turned up to immerse idols today when Muslims also observed Muharram

Watch: Gang Points Gun At Doctor, Demands Immediate Treatment For Friend

India News | Reported by Monideepa Banerjie, Edited by Nidhi Sethi | Sunday October 1, 2017

A gang of armed men stormed into a privately run nursing home in West Bengal early this morning and demanded immediate treatment for one of their friends who had suffered some injuries. They assaulted the staff and created a ruckus at the Paramount Nursing Home in Sreerampore, Hooghly district.

Durga Idols Get Smaller, Puja Menus Slimmer: GST, Demonetisation Effect?

India News | Written by Monideepa Banerjie | Friday September 29, 2017

Durga Puja in Kolkata this time was all about Laxmi or money or rather the lack of it. And the villain of the piece? Many say it was demonetization and Goods and Services Tax or GST. Budgets have been slashed as sponsors and advertisers didn't have money or were too busy meeting GST deadlines.

Gorkha Body Suspends 104-Day Darjeeling Strike After Rajnath Singh Appeal

India News | Written by Monideepa Banerjie | Wednesday September 27, 2017

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha suspended for an "indefinite period" the 104-day long shutdown from 6 am today after over three months of agitations that cost 11 lives in the hills of Darjeeling. In an audio clip from an undisclosed location reported by news agencies, Morcha chief Bimal Gurung urged hill residents to resume transport services, reopen sh...

Mukul Roy Exits Trinamool Congress, Turbulence Expected Ahead

India News | Written by Monideepa Banerjie | Monday September 25, 2017

The Trinamool Congress today lost a man they called Chanakya - Mukul Roy, strategist and schemer, who helped Mamata Banerjee make the most of her charismatic leadership.

Mukul Roy Quits Trinamool After Meeting With Top BJP Leaders

India News | Reported by Monideepa Banerjie | Monday September 25, 2017

Mukul Roy, one of the founder members of Mamata Banerjee's party, has today announced he is quitting the Trinamool Congress. He has resigned from the party's working committee today, and says he will soon surrender his membership of the party and of the Rajya Sabha.

'Saw Daughter Gang-Raped': At Rohingya Camp In Bangladesh, Horror Stories

World News | Written by Monideepa Banerjie | Thursday September 21, 2017

From a distance, it appears to be a hill in flames. As one draws closer, it emerges that shacks on the hillside are covered in orange plastic sheets that look like flames. These are Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh, not far from its border with Myanmar.

'Don't Play With Fire': Mamata Banerjee To Group Planning Rally With Arms

India News | Reported By Monideepa Banerjie, Edited By Soumyajit Majumder | Sunday September 17, 2017

A day after the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) announced plans to organise events to -worship- weapons on the final day of the Durga Puja festival in West Bengal later this month, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asked right-wing outfits not to "play with fire".

In Video, Bengal Minister Threatens To Slap Banker For Technical Failure

India News | Reported by Monideepa Banerjie, Edited by Shylaja Varma | Saturday September 16, 2017

In a widely-shared video, a minister in West Bengal can be seen threatening and verbally abusing the staff at a bank for alleged mismanagement. The video shows Rabindra Nath Ghosh, a minister in the Mamata Banerjee government, threatening to slap a bank staffer inside the office of Union Bank of India in north Bengal's Cooch Behar district.

Expelled But 'Unofficially', Left MP Ritabrata Banerjee Says 'Had To Bell The Cat'

India News | Written by Monideepa Banerjie | Thursday September 14, 2017

At one time, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPM would be compared to a well-oiled machine. Perhaps testimony to the fact that it is creaking at many joints, the party MP Ritabrata Banerjee was expelled yesterday but there is still nothing official about it.

Durga Puja Holidays In Darjeeling? Hold Your Horses May Be

India News | Written by Monideepa Banerjie | Tuesday September 12, 2017

89 days after Darjeeling shut down to demand a separate state and protest a bid to allegedly impose Bengali language in the hills, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today met several hill leaders, led by Benoy Tamang of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, for talks that both sides said were positive.

2 Trinamool Leaders' Visit To Investigators Raises Eyebrows In Kolkata

India News | Written by Monideepa Banerjie | Tuesday September 12, 2017

On a day BJP chief Amit Shah met party workers in Kolkata in a closed door meeting and told them, reportedly, that they must literally fight the Trinamool, two Trinamool leaders seen on the Narada sting operation tapes walked into the offices of central agencies to give their statements. Sources claim their party was taken aback, that Trinamool was...

Huge Rally In Kolkata By Muslim Outfits Demands Justice For Rohingyas

India News | Written by Monideepa Banerjie | Tuesday September 12, 2017

On a day the Indian government was "deplored" by UN agencies for planning to deport some 40,000 Rohingyas who have been sheltering in India for years a dozen organisations - most of them Muslim - took to the streets of Kolkata to protest what they called the genocide of Rohingyas in Myanmar.

Two West Bengal Universities Watch PM Speech; 2 Too Many, Says Trinamool Minister

India News | Written by Monideepa Banerjie | Monday September 11, 2017

Only two central universities in West Bengal tuned into Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the youth on Monday on Swami Vivekananda and Deendayal Upadhyay, yet it provoked the state education minister to say that two was 'too many'.

Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Objects To UGC Letter On Viewing PM's Speech

India News | Written by Monideepa Banerjie | Saturday September 9, 2017

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will deliver a special address to the nation on Monday to mark the centenary celebration of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya and 125 years of Swami Vivekananda's address at the Chicago World Parliament of Religions.

Father-Son Die Of Dengue, Kolkata Civic Body Wants To Double Check Cause

Kolkata News | Written by Monideepa Banerjie | Friday September 8, 2017

Dengue killed two people in Kolkata on Thursday. The tragic twist to the statistic: one victim was the father and the other his son.

For Trinamool Members Thinking Of Jumping Ship, Mamata Banerjee Has This Message

India News | Written by Monideepa Banerjie | Friday September 8, 2017

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today told leaders of her Trinamool Congress that if anyone wanted to leave the party and join some other, they were free to do so. "It is their personal choice," she is reported to have said at a core committee meeting at the office at her home complex in Kolkata.