India

Kolkata, Feb 4 (PTI) Industry bodies on Monday hailed the West Bengal Budget for 2019-20 for its focus on farmers, social infrastructure and incentives for sectors like MSMEs, tea and healthcare.

Finance Minister Amit Mitra on Monday presenting a Rs 2.37 lakh-crore state budget with a Rs 9-crore deficit.

Mumbai, Feb 4 (PTI) Dalit scholar and rights activist Anand Teltumbde, who was briefly arrested by the Pune police last week in the Elgaar Parishad case, Monday said the "Urban Maoist" was a bogey that was being raised to "silence" those who raise their voice against policies of the government.

Teltumbde, who teaches at the Goa Institute of Management, was arrested by Pune police Saturday at the Mumbai airport, despite the supreme court having granted him time till February 11 to seek anticipatory bail.

New Delhi, Feb 4 (PTI) Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra Monday returned from abroad and met Congress president Rahul Gandhi at his Tughlaq Road residence.

Party sources said Priyanka Gandhi would be present at a meeting of AICC general secretaries and in-charges of various states, called in Delhi on Thursday evening to plan the strategy for the Lok Sabha election due by May.

Ahmednagar/Mumbai, Feb 4 (PTI) Social activist Anna Hazare, whose indefinite fast for appointment of anti-corruption watchdogs entered the sixth day Monday, has refused to call off his protest saying the government is handling the issue of corruption in a casual manner.

The talks between Union minister Subhash Bhamre, state minister Girish Mahajan and Hazare in the latter's Ralegan Siddhi village in Ahmed Nagar district, the venue of his fast since January 30, remained inconclusive Monday.

Thane, Feb 5 (PTI) A 61-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly molesting and stalking a woman in Thane district of Maharashtra, police said on Tuesday.

The 60-year-old woman, who worked as a domestic help, told the Naupada police that the accused, Prakash Mhatre, had allegedly been stalking her for last four months in the Makhmali Talao locality because of which she had to leave several jobs in the area, a police official said.

Mumbai, Feb 5 (PTI) The Shiv Sena Tuesday attacked the Modi government over the face-off between the West Bengal government and the CBI, alleging that it was "orchestrated" for political gains in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The Sena, in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana', said what was happening in Kolkata was a "threat to democracy".

KANPUR: In order to stop trespassers and hassle-free run of the trains the Railway Board has planned to build the walls on both sides of the tracks. A sum of Rs 25 crores has been sanctioned to the engineering department of Kanpur Zone.

Patna, Feb 4 (PTI) Disgruntled BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha on Monday fired a fresh salvo at the Narendra Modi government, accusing it of playing with fire by targeting West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee whom he called a tried and tested mass leader.

New Delhi, Feb 4 : The Supreme Court Monday agreed to give an urgent hearing to applications moved by the CBI alleging destruction of electronic evidence related to the Saradha chit fund scam case by the Kolkata Police commissioner.

The top court will hear the probe agency's applications on Tuesday.

The CBI alleged that it has moved the application as an extraordinary situation has arisen in which the top police officials of the West Bengal Police are sitting on a dharna along with a political party in Kolkata.

New Delhi, Feb 4; PTI: The Union Home Ministry will examine the role of some IPS officers in the alleged obstruction put up against a CBI team probing the Saradha ponzi scam in Kolkata and whether they violated the service conduct rules while preventing questioning of city police commissioner Rajeev Kumar, officials said on Monday.

The Union home ministry is the cadre-controlling authority of the Indian Police Service (IPS) officers in the country.