TMC seeks renaming of West Bengal as 'Bangla'
New Delhi, Feb 4 (PTI): The Trinamool Congress on Tuesday demanded renaming of West Bengal as 'Bangla', saying this carries the signature of the state's history and culture.
Raising the issue through a Zero Hour mention in the Rajya Sabha, party MP Ritabrata Banerjee said the West Bengal Assembly had in July 2018 unanimously passed a resolution for renaming the state but the Centre has not yet agreed to it.
He said West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had written to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying the "re-christening will be in consonance with the history, culture, and identity of our state and will reflect the aspirations of our people".
The 1947 partition divided Bengal -- the Indian side was called West Bengal and the other side was named East Pakistan. In 1971, East Pakistan declared independence and a new nation of Bangladesh was formed.
Today, there is no East Pakistan, he said. "Our state's name needs to be changed. The mandate of the people of West Bengal needs to be honoured."
The name of any state was last changed in 2011, when Orissa became Odisha.
Many cities have seen name changes over the years. These include Bombay, which was changed to Mumbai in 1995, Madras to Chennai in 1996, Calcutta to Kolkata in 2001, and Bangalore to Bengaluru in 2014.
BJD's Debashish Samantaray sought national festival status for Bali Jatra.
The festival is held on the banks of Mahanadi river every year to mark the time of the year when mariners from the state set sail to Bali, Sumatra and Java in Indonesia, Borneo and Sri Lanka in ancient times for the expansion of trade and culture.
Saket Gokhale of TMC wanted the benefit of cheaper ethanol in petrol be passed to consumers while his party colleague Sushmita Dev wanted river Barak in Assam to be dredged and the waterway to be used for movement of goods.
BJP's Kavita Patidar demanded water conservation methods such as ground water recharging be used to solve the problem of flooding of railway line underpasses.
PT Usha (Nominated) sought setting up of AIIMS at Kinaloor in Kozhikode district of Kerala.
Raising the issue of impact of climate change on agriculture, S Selvaganabathy (BJP) said erratic weather patterns have impacted crop yield, causing great loss to farmers.
He wanted new varieties of seeds that withstand weather vagaries to be tested.
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Bihar: Over 150 children fall ill after consuming 'mid-day meal' in Saharsa
Saharsa (PTI): More than 150 children were taken ill after allegedly consuming food that was part of the mid-day meal in a school in Bihar’s Saharsa district, a senior official said on Thursday.
The incident occurred at a middle school in Baluaha village of the district.
The official said that 115 children were undergoing treatment at the Sadar Hospital, while around 50 students were admitted to Mahishi Public Health Centre.
“We received information that several children fell ill after consuming the mid-day meal in Baluaha. The children were initially treated at the primary health centre, but later, many were referred to the Sadar Hospital,” Saharsa District Magistrate Deepesh Kumar told reporters.
“According to doctors, the health condition of the children has improved, but they will be kept under observation for some time. There is no need to panic. Some kids are having mild fever. They are being treated accordingly,” Kumar said.
Meanwhile, family members of some children claimed that a snake was found in the container in which cooked pulses was stored at the school.
Of the 545 students present in the school, 200 had already eaten their meals by the time the snake was spotted, and later complained of stomach ache and vomiting, they said.
Regarding the claims, the DM said food samples have been collected from the school.
“We will be able to comment on this only after the results of the tested samples arrive,” he said.
