NEWS

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday declared state transport and housing minister and senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Firhad Hakim as mayor of Kolkata Municipal Corporation, and said the work of the civic body will be reviewed every six months.

The TMC chief also named party leaders Atin Ghosh and Mala Roy as deputy mayor and chairman of the civic body, respectively.

“Plan our work and do it fast. Don’t keep them pending thinking that you have five years in hand. I will seek a progress report after six months. After every six months, a review would be done to check the progress. Those who fail to work will face action,” the chief minister said as she also announced the names of 13 mayors-in-council.

Union Minister of Steel Ram Chandra Prasad Singh has directed Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSEs) under his ministry to take up the issue of manganese ore exploration with state governments and to explore possibilities of new manganese bearing areas to boost the domestic production of manganese ore which will help in achieving the objective of “Atma Nirbhar Bharat”.

He was chairing a meeting of the consultative committee of the Ministry of Steel yesterday at which the members deliberated on the issue of “Development of manganese ore industry in India”. Minister of State for Steel and Rural Development Faggan Singh Kulaste and senior officers of the ministry and the CPSEs were present in the meeting.

MPs–Bidyut Baran Mahato, Chandra Prakash Choudhary, Janardan Singh Sigriwal, Prataprao Govindrao Patil Chikhlikar, S Gnanathiraviam, and Vijay Baghel also took part in the meeting.

A Muslim Youth has been provided police protection after he chanted Jai Shri Ram in a political rally in of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Shahranpur of Uttar Pradesh. Ehsan Rao raised the slogan ‘Jai Shri Ram’ at the rally jointly addressed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Saharanpur on December 2. The Police said that the youth has been provided security as he was getting threatening messages after the rally.

Saharanpur Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Akash Tomar said that Ehsan was receiving constant threats for raising the Jai Shri Ram slogan. Ehsan had reportedly written a letter to the District Magistrate (DM) and SSP seeking their intervention for getting police protection.

Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Admi Party's National Convener Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said that the Trinamool Congress doesn't command even 1% of the voter base in Goa.

Pointing out that TMC had arrived in Goa only a few months ago, Kejriwal said that a party needs to work hard among the people (to win elections).

Kejriwal is on a two-day visit to poll-bound Goa and is slated to return to Delhi on Wednesday.

"I think you people [media] give a lot of importance to TMC. I think TMC doesn't have even a 1% vote share as of now. It came to Goa only 3 months back, democracy doesn't work like this. You need to work hard, you need to work among people," Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said in Panaji, Goa.