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Ravik Bhattacharya

Ravik Bhattacharya is assistant editor of Hindustan Times. He has spent over 16 years in journalism covering political, trafficking, crime and human rights issues in various parts of India.

Articles by Ravik Bhattacharya

Amit Shah to launch ‘booth chalo’ drive in Bengal

After Amit Shah launches the exercise, BJP leaders and workers in Bengal will try to visit all households in the state including the residence of chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

BJP president Amit Shah will not address public rallies during his stay and will focus on spreading the campaign at the grassroots level. He will also hold meetings with party workers and try to attract Bengali intellectuals.(HT Photo)

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Published on Apr 20, 2017 12:19 PM IST

Hindustan Times | ByRavik Bhattacharya, Kolkata

How Bengal’s Ram Navami-Hanuman Jayanti celebrations descended into chaos

Rioters gutted several shops and vandalised a number of vehicles over the previous week. Police have arrested 12 people under non-bailable sections of the IPC in this connection.

Hindu organisations took out processions on the occasion of Ram Navami in Kolkata.(Samir Jana)

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Updated on Apr 14, 2017 09:49 AM IST

Hindustan Times, Kolkata | ByRavik Bhattacharya

Hanuman Jayanti celebrations hits the heart of Kolkata, VHP leaders express trust in Modi-Yodi combine to construct Ram Temple

VHP leaders also targeted Mamata Banerjee and Trinamool Congress government for undermining the aspirations of Hindus in Bengal.

Vishwa Hindu Parishad supporters organised a rally in celebration of Ram Mahotsav and Hanuman Jayanti and demanding construction of Ram Temple at Ayodhya at Esplanade in Kolkata.(Samir Jana/HT PHOTO)

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Updated on Apr 12, 2017 05:44 PM IST

Hindustan Times | ByRavik Bhattacharya

Bengal jail inmates go for fashion designing, to walk the ramp on ‘Poila Baishakh’

Convicts will showcase designer wear made by them in a programme on Bengali New Year.

Inmates of Presidency central jail will participate in a unique fashion show, where they will highlight the 12 seasons of Bengal through twelve different types of apparels.(HT Photo)

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Published on Apr 03, 2017 05:31 PM IST

Hindustan Times | ByRavik Bhattacharya, Kolkata

At Re 1 for 17km, cheapest bus in India fuelled by cow dung biogas launched in Kolkata

A Kolkata-based company has designed a bus that will run on biogas produced from cow dung and will charge a flat fare of Re 1 for a 17.5 km route.

The bus was decked up at Ultadanga in the northern fringes of Kolkata on Thursday evening.(HT Photo)

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Updated on Apr 01, 2017 10:37 AM IST

Hindustan Times, Kolkata | ByRavik Bhattacharya, Kolkata

RSS, VHP plan mega Ram Navami celebration in Bengal

Twin objectives: Mobilising public opinion for Ram temple in Ayodhya and Hindu consolidation

Ram Navami celebrations in North India. The Sangh Parivar has planned elaborate celebrations in Bengal for the first time.(HT Photo)

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Published on Mar 28, 2017 02:58 PM IST

Hindustan Times | ByRavik Bhattacharya, Kolkata

Narada effect? Kolkata Police initiate action against Trinamool MP in fraud case

The Kolkata Police registered a suo motu FIR against Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP KD Singh and slapped non-bailable sections against him in a multi-crore cheating case late on March 16, a day before the Calcutta high court ordered a CBI probe into the Narada tapes.

Congress workers scatter fake currency notes in the wind in support of the Narada sting operation, which showed several Trinamool leaders taking bribes.(Prateek Choudhary/ HT File)

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Updated on Mar 23, 2017 06:07 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Kolkata | ByRavik Bhattacharya

Police start case, slap non-bailable section against Bengali poet for hurting ‘religious sentiments’

Police have also written to Facebook for details of the account from where the controversial poem was posted.

The police complaint against Srijato Bandyopadhyay has polarised a vast majority of the people of West Bengal.(Facebook)

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Updated on Mar 23, 2017 07:39 AM IST

Hindustan Times | ByRavik Bhattacharya, Kolkata

Post UP, BJP to focus on Bengal

With 42 Lok Sabha seats, Bengal is the third biggest state in terms of presence in the lower house of the Parliament. BJP strategy in Bengal may feature prominently in party national executive meeting in Delhi in mid-April.

Both the historic victory in the UP Assembly polls and the supreme court’s verdict upholding CBI investigation in Narada sting operation will add momentum to BJP’s drive in Bengal before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.(HT Photo)

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Updated on Mar 23, 2017 07:14 PM IST

Hindustan Times | ByRavik Bhattacharya, Kolkata

Police complaint against West Bengal poet for ‘hurting religious sentiments of Hindus’

Srijato Bandopadhyay posted the controversial 12-line poem on Facebook at 8:25pm on March 19, the day Aditya Nath was sworn in as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.

Poet Srijato Bandopadhyay said he will not give much importance to the complaint filed against.(Photo: Facebook)

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Updated on Mar 21, 2017 10:51 AM IST

Kolkata, Hindustan Times | ByRavik Bhattacharya

A decade later, family members of Nandigram victims still seeking justice

The members of the families of those whom ruling Trinamool Congress describe as Nandigram ‘martyrs’, are still seething in anger.

Ashia Bibi holds the picture of her son Imadul who was killed in police firing on March 14, 2007 in Nandigram.(Subhankar Chakraborty/HT PHOTO)

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Published on Mar 15, 2017 01:58 PM IST

Hindustan Times | ByAvijit Ghosal and Ravik Bhattacharya

Election results: Why BJP’s sweep in UP could be ominous for Mamata Banerjee

Following the BJP’s huge win in UP, the Trinamool Congress in Bengal is apprehensive that the Centre could use the CBI to ‘target’ its leaders for their alleged involvement in graft.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee(PTI File Photo)

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Updated on Mar 12, 2017 10:14 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Kolkata | ByAvijit Ghosal and Ravik Bhattacharya

‘Nari Shakti Puraskar’ winner from Bengal waiting for over a year to get a house under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana

On International Women’s Day, President Pranab Mukherjee awarded ‘Nari Shakti Puraskar’ to 21 year old Anoyara Khatun for her role in fighting against child trafficking in Bengal.

On International Women’s Day, President Pranab Mukherjee awarded 'Nari Shakti Puraskar' to 21 year old Anoyara Khatun (2nd from Left) for her role in fighting against child trafficking with her friends at an NGO office in Kolkata.(Samir Jana/HT PHOTO)

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Updated on Mar 10, 2017 07:49 PM IST

Hindustan Times | ByRavik Bhattacharya

Lashkar militant on death row goes on hunger strike in Bengal jail to press for TV, proper bed and food

He was given capital punishment along with two Pakistani nationals on January 22 this year.

Picture of Muzaffar Ahmed Rather before he was arrested.(HT Photo)

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Published on Mar 09, 2017 03:17 PM IST

Hindustan Times | ByRavik Bhattacharya, Kolkata

Country’s oldest bank by female sex workers opens it doors for male customers

Set up in 1995 in Kolkata with a capital of Rs 30,000, it has clocked a business of nearly Rs 30 crore.

The head office of Usha Multipurpose Co-operative Society in Sonagachi, the largest red light area of the country.(Samir Jana)

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Published on Mar 08, 2017 10:27 AM IST

Hindustan Times | ByRavik Bhattacharya, Kolkata

Mind the gap: burn and destroy mission in Bengal fields leaves a few questions

There seems to be fewer agriculture personnel in the districts who can ensure a fool-proof destruction of each and every strand of the wheat crop. They were visiting the fields but they don’t have enough machines to fell the crops and burn them.

Government officers set fire to wheat crop in Sonpukur village on Chapr a block in Nadia district of West Bengal.(Subhankar Chakraborty/HT PHOTO)

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Published on Mar 05, 2017 03:12 PM IST

Hindustan Times | ByAvijit Ghosal and Ravik Bhattacharya

Ground Zero: Farmers stare helplessly as govt race against time to contain spread of ‘wheat blast’ like symptoms

The state government has deployed men and machines in the villages including combined harvester machines to chop off the crop, jars of kerosene and spray machines.

A farmer stands helplessly in the middle of his field staring at the crop that has been burnt by the government officers in Nadia district of West Bengal.(Subhankar Chakraborty/HT PHOTO)

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Updated on Mar 05, 2017 01:52 PM IST

Hindustan Times | ByRavik Bhattacharya and Halim Mondal

Deadly wheat blast symptoms enters India through the Bangladesh border, Bengal govt burning crops on war footing

Wheat on nearly 1,000 hectares in two districts bordering Bangladesh have already been affected by the symptoms of wheat blast disease, forcing Bengal government to burning standing crops.

State government officers set fire to wheat in Sonpukur village on Chapra block in Nadia district of West Bengal.(Subhankar Chakraborty/HT PHOTO)

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Updated on Mar 05, 2017 01:52 PM IST

Hindustan Times | ByRavik Bhattacharya and Sreyasi Pal

Fungus sees wheat crops in Bengal go up in flames as govt controls its spread

Since the last week of February, agriculture authorities have launched an offensive against symptoms of what is known as the ‘wheat blast disease’, first identified in Brazil in 1985. The deadly fungus had ravaged fields across Bangladesh last year and is now threatening harvest in West Bengal.

Agriculture officers, panchayat employees and farmers set fire to wheat that are almost ripe for harvesting in Sonpukur village in West Bengal, on March 4, 2017.(Subhankar Chakraborty/HT Photo)

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Published on Mar 04, 2017 11:59 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Chapra (West Bengal) | ByRavik Bhattacharya and Halim Mondal

Malda’s dirty money: How Bengal district became India’s fake notes capital

Good rail, road connectivity, proximity to Bangladesh border, rising fundamentalism — all make a heady mix to put the district as the fake note hub of the country.

The FICN couriers ship their consignment to Jharkhand by boat across the Ganga from Manikchak ghat in Malda.(HT Photo/Subhankar Chakraborty)

india news

Updated on Mar 03, 2017 11:56 AM IST

Hindustan Times, Kolkata | ByRavik Bhattacharya

After Juhi Chowdhury’s arrest, BJP moves court against Derek O’ Brien

BJP targets TMC MP over alleged morphing of Prime Minister’s picture before the 2016 Bengal Assembly elections.

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Updated on Mar 01, 2017 06:10 PM IST

Hindustan Times | ByRavik Bhattacharya, Kolkata

Teens in Bengal villages up in arms against child traffickers

Trained by NGOs with government support, group of young kids aged between 14 and 18 years keep a close watch on the villages, spot and challenge traffickers, stop child marriages and help in rescue.

One of the teams of children against trafficking in Sandeshkhali village in South 24 Parganas in Kolkata(Subhankar Chakraborty/HT Photo)

india news

Updated on Feb 27, 2017 04:41 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Kolkata | ByRavik Bhattacharya

Fake notes printed on Bangladesh stamp paper sets off alarm bells

Security Forces (BSF) were recently shocked to find that Bangladesh stamp paper -- printed only in government presses -- was used for counterfeiting Indian notes that were smuggled in bulk into the country through Bengal after demonetisation.

If the seizure of fake currency within a few weeks of demonetisation shocked agencies such as BSF and police, the discovery that it was printed on stamp paper has come as a double whammy.(Representative Photo)

india news

Updated on Feb 26, 2017 10:24 AM IST

Hindustan Times, Kolkata | ByRavik Bhattacharya

70% callers to helpline for Muslim women are men seeking info on triple talaq

Hindi and Urdu speaking Muslims from Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Delhi and other states have also been calling to seek guidance

Uzma Alam (centre) secretary of joint secretary of All Bengal Muslim Women’s Association at Muslim Orphanage in Kolkata.(Subhankar Chakraborty/HT Photo)

india news

Updated on Feb 22, 2017 03:53 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Kolkata | ByRavik Bhattacharya

Three embarrassments later, BJP’s special cell to screen newcomers in Bengal

Bengal BJP is set to open a three-tier special cell to screen new comers in the party, the move coming in the wake of a few of its leaders being arrested for involvement in trafficking rackets and cheating cases.

The decision that came after a prod by its central leaders in Delhi, will incorporate a system of screening new comer leaders from other political parties.(HT Photo)

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Published on Feb 21, 2017 01:23 PM IST

Hindustan Times | ByRavik Bhattacharya

Kolkata sex workers and their bank grapple with note ban pain

In Sonagachi, about 48% of loans taken from the cooperative bank by sex workers was for the education of their children and another 25% for health care. Building houses and children’s marriage were the other reasons for taking loans.

Sex workers said some of them are cutting their rates to lure customers but even the discounts are not good enough to revive business.(HT File Photo)

india news

Updated on Feb 20, 2017 12:09 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Kolkata | ByRavik Bhattacharya

After Dilip Ghosh, Netaji’s grandnephew criticises Amartya Sen for ‘dirty politics’

Chandra Kumar Bose says that while criticising demonetisation, Sen is using words that befit a politician and not an economist.

Chandra Kumar Bose, grandnephew of Subhas Chandra Bose, played an important role in the campaign leading to the declassification of the secret files on Netaji. He later joined BJP.(HT Photo)

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Updated on Feb 14, 2017 11:21 PM IST

Hindustan Times | ByRavik Bhattacharya, Kolkata

Bengal MLA lodges complaint of molestation during Feb 8 ruckus in assembly, opposition walks out of the House

On February 8, pandemonium broke out when “The West Bengal Maintenance of Public Order (Amendment) Bill 2017” was tabled.

Congress and CPI(M) MLAs protest on Bengal assembly premises.(Subhankar Chakraborty/HT PHOTO)

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Published on Feb 13, 2017 03:31 PM IST

Hindustan Times | ByRavik Bhattacharya

BJP Bengal chief stands by his ‘spineless’ jibe at Amartya Sen

BJP’s West bengal chief Dilip Ghosh on Saturday had questioned the renowned economist’s contribution to the nation.

Nobel laureate Amartya Sen.(PTI File photo)

india news

Published on Feb 13, 2017 12:41 AM IST

Hindustan Times, Kolkata | ByRavik Bhattacharya and Snigdhendu Bhattacharya

In solidarity with LGBT community, CPI-M’s youth arm demands education, job reservation for transgenders across India

A special resolution adopted at the 10th DYFI national conference held in Kerala in early February has demanded special budgetary provisions for education of the transgender community.

DYFI has also demanded scrapping of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code which treats homosexuality as crime.(HT Photo)

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Published on Feb 12, 2017 12:03 PM IST

Hindustan Times | ByTanmay Chatterjee and Ravik Bhattacharya

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Ravik Bhattacharya

Ravik Bhattacharya is assistant editor of Hindustan Times. He has spent over 16 years in journalism covering political, trafficking, crime and human rights issues in various parts of India.

After Amit Shah launches the exercise, BJP leaders and workers in Bengal will try to visit all households in the state including the residence of chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

Rioters gutted several shops and vandalised a number of vehicles over the previous week. Police have arrested 12 people under non-bailable sections of the IPC in this connection.

VHP leaders also targeted Mamata Banerjee and Trinamool Congress government for undermining the aspirations of Hindus in Bengal.

Convicts will showcase designer wear made by them in a programme on Bengali New Year.

A Kolkata-based company has designed a bus that will run on biogas produced from cow dung and will charge a flat fare of Re 1 for a 17.5 km route.

Twin objectives: Mobilising public opinion for Ram temple in Ayodhya and Hindu consolidation

The Kolkata Police registered a suo motu FIR against Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP KD Singh and slapped non-bailable sections against him in a multi-crore cheating case late on March 16, a day before the Calcutta high court ordered a CBI probe into the Narada tapes.

Police have also written to Facebook for details of the account from where the controversial poem was posted.

With 42 Lok Sabha seats, Bengal is the third biggest state in terms of presence in the lower house of the Parliament. BJP strategy in Bengal may feature prominently in party national executive meeting in Delhi in mid-April.

Srijato Bandopadhyay posted the controversial 12-line poem on Facebook at 8:25pm on March 19, the day Aditya Nath was sworn in as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.

The members of the families of those whom ruling Trinamool Congress describe as Nandigram ‘martyrs’, are still seething in anger.

Following the BJP’s huge win in UP, the Trinamool Congress in Bengal is apprehensive that the Centre could use the CBI to ‘target’ its leaders for their alleged involvement in graft.

On International Women’s Day, President Pranab Mukherjee awarded ‘Nari Shakti Puraskar’ to 21 year old Anoyara Khatun for her role in fighting against child trafficking in Bengal.

He was given capital punishment along with two Pakistani nationals on January 22 this year.

Set up in 1995 in Kolkata with a capital of Rs 30,000, it has clocked a business of nearly Rs 30 crore.

There seems to be fewer agriculture personnel in the districts who can ensure a fool-proof destruction of each and every strand of the wheat crop. They were visiting the fields but they don’t have enough machines to fell the crops and burn them.

The state government has deployed men and machines in the villages including combined harvester machines to chop off the crop, jars of kerosene and spray machines.

Wheat on nearly 1,000 hectares in two districts bordering Bangladesh have already been affected by the symptoms of wheat blast disease, forcing Bengal government to burning standing crops.

Since the last week of February, agriculture authorities have launched an offensive against symptoms of what is known as the ‘wheat blast disease’, first identified in Brazil in 1985. The deadly fungus had ravaged fields across Bangladesh last year and is now threatening harvest in West Bengal.

Good rail, road connectivity, proximity to Bangladesh border, rising fundamentalism — all make a heady mix to put the district as the fake note hub of the country.

BJP targets TMC MP over alleged morphing of Prime Minister’s picture before the 2016 Bengal Assembly elections.

Trained by NGOs with government support, group of young kids aged between 14 and 18 years keep a close watch on the villages, spot and challenge traffickers, stop child marriages and help in rescue.

Security Forces (BSF) were recently shocked to find that Bangladesh stamp paper -- printed only in government presses -- was used for counterfeiting Indian notes that were smuggled in bulk into the country through Bengal after demonetisation.

Hindi and Urdu speaking Muslims from Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Delhi and other states have also been calling to seek guidance

Bengal BJP is set to open a three-tier special cell to screen new comers in the party, the move coming in the wake of a few of its leaders being arrested for involvement in trafficking rackets and cheating cases.

In Sonagachi, about 48% of loans taken from the cooperative bank by sex workers was for the education of their children and another 25% for health care. Building houses and children’s marriage were the other reasons for taking loans.

Chandra Kumar Bose says that while criticising demonetisation, Sen is using words that befit a politician and not an economist.

On February 8, pandemonium broke out when “The West Bengal Maintenance of Public Order (Amendment) Bill 2017” was tabled.

BJP’s West bengal chief Dilip Ghosh on Saturday had questioned the renowned economist’s contribution to the nation.

A special resolution adopted at the 10th DYFI national conference held in Kerala in early February has demanded special budgetary provisions for education of the transgender community.

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