Avijit Ghosal

A row erupted after the West Bengal poll panel recalled its Monday decision extending the last date for filing of nominations for next month’s panchayat election. read more

The panchayat polls will be a curtain-raiser for next year’s Lok Sabha elections. While the BJP will look to compensate for losses in Rajasthan and Gujarat, Mamata’s men will try to ensure that opponents do not try to encroach on her turf. read more

Leaders of the Hindu Samhati, a far right outfit set up by former RSS pracharak, are speaking in favour of the TMC. read more

Established in 1906 in Kolkata, Aurora Film Corporation has set many milestones. But in the new digital age, owner Anjan Bose is attempting to reinvent it to stay relevant, and keep the film rolling. read more

Poet-curator Nilanjan Bandyopadhyay has embarked on the cross-cultural creative experiment in 2016, the centenary year of the Nobel laureate’s first Japan visit. read more

Trinamool Congress leaders point out the party’s popularity graph might have plateaued – the Gujarat polls are an indicator – and there is no reason why would anyone abandon Mamata Banerjee, who is at the pinnacle of her popularity now read more

Bangladesh government is worried that the terror elements might sneak into its territory in guise of refugees fleeing violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state. read more

Meeting and reviews where she pulls up officials and ministers has state administration on its toes. read more

The GSI’s team in Kolkata had identified diesel exhaust from vehicles as the chief culprit there. read more

While Dadasaheb Phalke is remembered as India’s first feature film director, Hiralal Sen, the first Indian to make movies is a completely forgotten man. read more

Mukul Roy is not a mass leader, and derived his power from Mamata’s magic. Without that, it is doubtful whether he can display the organisational skills that the BJP expects of him. read more

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) has virtually been split in two, the shutdown is over, and the BJP cannot come out in support of the Gorkhaland demand. Mamata Banerjee appears to have won this one. read more

Mamata Banerjee’s identity with Durga puja provided her a first mover political advantage ensuring that the BJP – the principal opponent in West Bengal now – could not occupy that platform, something that was natural for the saffron camp to target read more

Still, the West Bengal chief minister is likely to win the support of an overwhelming majority when she claims to take up cudgels to save Bengali culture from the onslaught of the saffron supporters read more

The West Bengal government had banned idol immersion after 10pm on September 30, the last day of the five-day festival, and on October 1 on account of Muharram. read more

A cursory enquiry about the ethos and practices in Bengal will highlight the futility of the Right-wing umbrage against Jawed Habib’s innocent advertisement Maa Durga arriving for a spa with her family read more

To say the Trinamool Congress juggernaut crushed the Opposition in the recently held municipal elections is understating the Opposition’s misery. The BJP came second, but won six wards. The CPI(M) and Congress drew a blank read more

CBI carried out searches on the premises of principal commissioner, income tax, Ranchi, Tapas Kumar Dutta, additional commissioner Arvind Kumar and other I-T officials. Besides raids were also conducted on the premises of five Kolkata based businessmen... read more

The authorities have floated a tender seeking bids to turn the canteen into a food court. But students of appear united on the point that Pramod-da has to be retained on the campus. read more

However, Suman Ghosh will explore his legal options and try persuading censor board officials against chopping off words like ‘cows’ and ‘criminality in Gujarat’ before taking such a step. read more

Grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and C Rajagopalachari, Gopalkrishna Gandhi does not need to rest on his family name for introduction read more

Grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and C Rajagopalachari, Gopalkrishna Gandhi does not need to rest on his family name for introduction read more

Model and TV anchor Sonika Chauhan has died in a car accident in Kolkata while actor Vikram Chatterjee, who was travelling with her, has been injured. read more

The Gorkhaland Movement Coordination Committee that was set up to spearhead the movement for a separate state and will have its first meeting on July 6 will wrestle with the question of keeping up the morale of the agitators. read more

Gorkha Janmukti Morcha stocked weapons to resist and attack the police, says official. read more

Trouble broke out in Darjeeling over the decades-long demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland as hill parties went on a rampage and torched vehicles. read more

Calcutta University students have congratulated the chief minister for declaring the area as a no- protest and no-horn zone. read more

Arvind Kejriwal’s Delhi government had last year decreed that private schools built on Delhi Development Authority land will need its nod before hiking fees. read more

West Bengal today said that its assembly will not move the bills required to roll out the new indirect tax. GST is scheduled to be rolled out on July 1. read more

Six years after it swept to power in West Bengal for the first time, the Trinamool Congress finally established a foothold in a region that had eluded it so far - the hills of north Bengal. read more

Seven civic bodies – four in the hills and three in the plains -- voted on Sunday but the election was marred by unprecedented violence that left several people injured and pit the state’s opposition parties against the Bengal election chief. read more

The Narada investigation by the CBI may give Mamata Banerjee more reasons to be worried, a year after the scam was first exposed. read more

All opposition leaders without exception in Bengal also concede that the Centre cannot – read should not – do anything that compromises with the interests of Bengal. They also point out that the Centre should have made the first move to study the technical... read more

Over the past few years, the steady push of the Sangh Parivar to spread worship of new deities -- Sherawali Mata, Ganesh and now Ram Navami celebrations -- is adding smile to the faces. read more

Senior Ramsar official files report, suggests thorough revision of ecology, livelihood and boundary. read more

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

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. read more

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. read more

It amounts to vandalism and should be abandoned forthwith, said Tagore family members, former VCs and artists. read more

Debt repayment will consume 81% of the government’s own tax revenue next year. read more

The Union budget was heartless and filled with hollow words that meant nothing, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday. read more

On January 20 and 21 as Mamata Banerjee holds a roadshow to attract investment to her state, the political climate will be marked by a virtual war between her party and the party at the Centre. read more

The arrests in Rose Valley scam have come at a time when Mamata Banerjee is aggressively trying to extend her footprint in Delhi and emerge as a leader of a united opposition. read more

A busy and happening nation stood motionless as the common man rediscovered the forgotten art of standing in a queue in 2016. read more

Prafulla Kumar De Sarkar, and his book ‘High English Grammar and Composition’ became a bible to countless Bengalis trying to learn correct English. read more

It was said that Parasmal Lodha, a Kolkata businessman, had interests in real estate, mostly in the central business district of Dalhousie area and tea gardens. He swore by corporate governance but revealed almost nothing of his own activities. read more

This has also been a most momentous week in Mamata Banerjee’s career as she has found the right platform to project herself as a prominent leader in Delhi. read more

After the supreme court verdict to return the Nano plot land to farmers in Singur, she is already seen as a fighter for farmer rights. read more

Puja revelry is nowhere near the peak if you are digitally unarmed. read more

Every year, she inaugurates dozens of community pujas. read more

She invited even the vanquished Tatas to build an auto factory on 1,000 acre elsewhere in Bengal. read more

Last year in October, Calcutta High Court had scrapped the bail given to Mitra by a lower court and sent him marching back to prison. read more

Will offer pushpanjali for the first time on empty stomach. read more

A few days ago, Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee ‘liberated’ the citizens of her state from the tyranny of dry days, slashing them from 12 a year – an oppressive one day a month – to a less revolting 4.5. read more

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The enormity of the debt West Bengal is burdened with will keep gnawing at Mamata Banerjee’s brains as she takes oath as chief minister on Friday. read more

If the exit polls on Monday evening are anything to go by, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has probably tackled her biggest political challenge so far – the unprecedented Left-Congress alliance – with a measure of success that nobody expe... read more

The Bihar model of grand alliance will become complete in Bengal, with the RJD and JDU – fringe parties in the state – joining hands with the Congress and the Left. read more

If Saradha was a benchmark, it is most likely that Narada, despite the rhyme, will remain a far less potent weapon of electoral damage for the Trinamool. read more

Narada News released a video that showed a dozen politicians of the ruling party in West Bengal accepting bribes. Will the fallout from this hurt an otherwise juggernaut Trinamool Congress in the coming assembly elections? read more

Bengalis have loved nothing more than a tragic hero. But none can hold a candle to Subhas Chandra Bose--man, patriot, mystery. read more

One of the best-kept secrets of the country, the intelligence files on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, came to light, at least partially, on Friday morning in the Kolkata Police Museum, where the government, led by chief minister Mamata Banerjee, took the... read more

As long as the Centre refuses to release the Netaji files, Friday’s declassification will remain a half-baked one. read more

The Trinamool Congress’ sweeping victory in polls to West Bengal’s civic bodies on Tuesday was attributed to chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s politics and the party’s strong arm tactics but the fact remains that its performance was more impressive than... read more

The CID on Thursday made the first arrest in the gang-rape of a nun in West Bengal, picking up a man named Md Selim from Mumbai. read more

Are there schools in every village of Bengal? Is there electricity in every village? Does an ambulance reach within 11 minutes of a phone call? “All these happen in BJP- ruled states,” said BJP president Amit Shah as he launched his Bengal Yatra read more

In the major political parties of West Bengal there is always one leader who knows the organisation better than its most prominent face. read more

The Uttarpara area under Berhampore police station in Murshidabad turned into a battle zone on Saturday morning after a clash erupted between Congress and Trinamool supporters over the occupation of a party office. read more

The year 1989 marked a key LS poll when the country punished a leader with a different style for corruption charges that are yet to be established in a court of law. Twenty-five years later, Bengal is debating if a similar political denouement is in... read more

Mamata Banerjee is on a five-day trip to Singapore to attract investments to her state. This is the West Bengal chief minister\'s first overseas trip in 15 years. read more

Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her party, the Trinamool Congress, are in search of a permanent state of victory – on every front, on any count and at any cost -- it seems. read more

The BJP is a unique experience in Bengal’s milieu as it has very little shared political history in the state, excepting a short-lived despair over the death of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh. read more

From being a marginal player, BJP storms into West Bengal at the cost of Left Front that had ruled for 34 years. read more

In her political life of more than three decades, the 2014 Lok Sabha polls are the first occasion where Mamata Banerjee has something to lose. At 59, Banerjee is fighting one of the toughest battles. read more

As Mamata\'s Trinamool Congress sweeps the panchayat polls in West Bengal, it\'s time to take a look at what the results mean for the chief minister, the Left and the state itself. Avijit Ghosal writes. read more

Sudipta Sen maintained an obscure style of functioning. Even the journalists who met him never got to know him much. Here is a look at the murky and mysterious world of Saradha group founder. Rajesh Mahapatra and Avijit Ghosal report. read more

The Shahbag Square movement of Bangladesh -with its continuing clashes that claimed 60 lives - has evoked strong emotions on this side of the border. read more

A reign of terror has descended on Tagore’s abode of peace, noted historian and former vice chancellor of Visva-Bharati (VB) Rajat Kanta Ray has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, urging him to intervene before the situation worsens further. read more

Passing through one of its worst financial crisis, West Bengal cannot execute the time-bound mega development package for Jangalmahal announced by chief minister Mamata Banerjee during her visit to the Maoist-dominated area earlier this month. Avijit... read more

Barely 24 hours after giving his consent to the land ordinance allowing the state government to take back the Singur Nano factory plot from the Tatas, West Bengal governor MK Narayanan has withdrawn his approval today. read more

West Bengal might be reeling under debt but chief minister Mamata Banerjee is apparently mulling a power subsidy to shield domestic consumers from the rising tariffs. read more

The corridors of power at Writers’ Buildings is barely five km from Mamata Banerjee’s Kalighat residence, but it took the gutsy lady a gruelling 4,881 days since the formation of the Trinamool in January 1998 to cover that distance. Avijit Ghosal re... read more

If Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar contested polls, he would have barely managed five votes, said industry minister Nirupam Sen barely 48 hours before the poll in his constituency. “Leaders should be social reformers, and if necessary, pay the price,” he argued... read more

Singur will haunt Nirupam Sen till his last breath. Avijit Ghosal and Ravik Bhattacharya report. read more

The state of West Bengal\'s finances makes it unfit for foreign loans. According to Union finance ministry documents accessed by HT, of the eight states that had applied for Japanese loans, West Bengal is the only one whose proposal has been shot down... read more

There are more similarities between Asim Dasgupta and Amit Mitra than most electoral opponents in the 2011 Bengal polls. Avijit Ghosal reports. read more

Finance secretary who was sent to Delhi has come back empty-handed. Avijit Ghosal reports. read more

While Rizwanur\'s family welcome the verdict and pray that it eventually leads to the guilty being punished, Rehman and his wife Zahida Rehman said on Tuesday morning that they had always maintained it was not a case of suicide but murder. read more

Is Mamata Banerjee soft on the Maoists? The Opposition in the Lok Sabha thinks she is. read more

Try booking a conference at Maurya Sheraton in New Delhi, and you will be offered the choice of a green banquet. If you are inviting guests, the hotel will suggest they don’t change the bed linens every day, reports Avijit Ghosal. What the hotels do read more

Imagine a village where the gross output value of industry and agriculture is 5.71 billion yuan (Rs 3,700 crore) annually and 4,651 residents have a collective income of 10 million yuan (Rs 6.5 crore). Wuyi village in the northeastern part of Wujin district... read more