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Friday, August 22, 2025
TopicWest Bengal

Topic: West Bengal

West Bengal is an Indian state in the eastern part of the country, and the only one in India with an incumbent woman Chief Minister — Mamata Banerjee.


The region, which was the political heart of the Bengal Presidency during British Rule, was divided into East and West Bengal in 1947. Bengal was a hotbed of the Indian Independence movement and has remained one of the country’s great artistic and intellectual centres, being home to Nobel laureates Rabindranath Tagore, Mother Teresa, Amartya Sen and Abhijit Banerjee as well as freedom fighter Subhash Chandra Bose and Oscar winner Satyajit Ray.


Geographically, the state is happily situated with the Himalayas in the north and the Sundarbans in the south. It shares a roughly 2,200-sqkm border with Bangladesh (East Bengal at the time of Partition).


For the first 30 years, the Congress ruled Bengal, but made way for Left domination for the next 34 years. In 2011, Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress — a breakaway from the Congress — came to power.

Central govt questions West Bengal over ‘misuse’ of mid-day meal funds for panchayat polls, seeks report

Soniya Agrawal -
Union education ministry has also sought an explanation for 'huge' spike in funds in the bank account meant for the scheme and why it was used to transfer money for state elections.

Outrage against Loreto College’s admission notice should be about exclusion not English

Monideepa Banerjie -
A lot of today’s Bengali versus English medium acrimony dates back to the Jyoti Basu-led Communist government’s language policy that banned teaching of English till class 5.

Eye on 2024, Congress-CPI(M) tie-up, stronger BJP — why Mamata’s going all out for panchayat polls

Sreyashi Dey -
West Bengal CM kickstarted campaign for 8 July polls from Cooch Behar, where she said her party now aims to ‘control the panchayats so no one can steal money’.

‘Missing students’, unused rice: Inside Centre-formed panel’s report on Bengal midday meal ‘lapses’

Sourav Roy Barman -
Panel says many students enrolled in govt schools ‘study in private schools’. Bengal to now receive Rs 180 crore less than it demanded as central assistance under scheme in 2023-24.

Fear of losing minority vote taught TMC a lesson on poll violence. But only partially

Monideepa Banerjie -
A lot has changed in West Bengal under Mamata Banerjee since 2011. The tradition of poll violence has not.

Duty calls, say nervous labourers on board as Coromandel Express chugs along route of deadly tragedy

Vandana Menon -
Many have travelled this route countless times before. The train is fully booked until at least 28 July. Meanwhile, survivors of 2 June accident stare at uncertain future.

‘118 of 179 groups in Bengal OBC list are Muslim’ — Backward Classes panel probes ‘irregularity’

Risha Chitlangia -
National Commission for Backward Classes received complaints that many Muslim groups included in Bengal OBC list are Bangladeshi migrants, says panel chair.

6 days on, Odisha train accident victims’ families continue desperate search for loved ones

Sreyashi Dey -
Of the 288 reported casualties in the 2 June accident, 87 bodies remain unidentified. Meanwhile, at hospitals, some bodies can't be traced even after families have identified them.

Congress wiped out of West Bengal assembly again as lone MLA joins Trinamool

Sreyashi Dey -
Bayron Biswas, who won the Sagardighi bypoll earlier this year, joined Trinamool Congress in presence of TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee. Congress had scored a zero in 2021 assembly polls.

West Bengal economy’s fall has been stunning. Too obsessed with agriculture

Nilakantan RS -
Its manufacturing sector is focused on metals, chemicals, food processing. These don’t generate the multiplier effects of newer industries in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
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