The fast-unto-death agitation by junior doctors in the wake of rape and murder of a junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital here entered the eighth day on Saturday, coinciding with the festival of Vijaya Dashami.
The number of protestors on hunger strike at Esplanade has increased to eight after two more junior doctors, Alolika Ghorui and Parichay Panda, joined the other six after Friday midnight.
The hunger strike started on October 5 with six junior doctors -- Tanaya Panja, Snigdha Hazra, Sayantani Ghosh Hazra, Anushtup Mukhopadhyay, Arnab Mukhopadhyay and Pulastya Acharya.
On October 6, Aniket Mahato from RG Kar Medical College and Hospital joined the hunger strike. However, after Thursday midnight, Mahato's health severely deteriorated and he had to be admitted to the intensive care unit of the hospital, thus bringing down the number of fasting junior doctors again to six.
But now with Parichay Panda and Alolika Ghorui joining the hunger strike, the number has increased to eight.
At the same time, two junior doctors, namely Alok Kumar Verma, a first-year postgraduate student of Psychiatry of North Bengal Medical College & Hospital (NBMCH), and Souvik Banerjee, an intern at the North Bengal Dental College & Hospital, too are undergoing parallel hunger-strike within the NBMCH campus at Siliguri in Darjeeling district.
Meanwhile, the parents of Snigdha Hazra, one of the striking doctors at the Esplanade dais and who currently resides at Bankura district, have accused the district police of sending cops to their residence during wee hours and putting pressure on them to convince their daughter to withdraw the from hunger strike.
Snigdha recently got married to her fellow junior doctor Debasish Halder, who is also one of the leading faces of junior doctors’ protest against the rape and murder issue.
Meanwhile, Citizens for Justice, a platform of representatives from civil society, has given a call for a protest march to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) office at Salt Lake in the northern outskirts of Kolkata on Saturday evening.
The contention of the forum is why CBI, in its investigation on the rape and murder issue, has not made any progress over what was revealed in the initial investigation by Kolkata Police.
J.P. Nadda holds meeting with Tripura BJP leaders; discusses party-related issues
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president J.P. Nadda on Sunday held an important meeting with Tripura's state unit leaders including Chief Minister Manik Saha and discussed various party affairs.
One body recovered from Telangana tunnel on day 16 of rescue operation
Rescue workers on Sunday - the 16th day of the operation - pulled out the body of one of the eight missing persons from the partially collapsed SLBC tunnel in Telangana’s Nagarkurnool district after the cadaver dogs from Kerala identified the spot for presence of human remains under the rubble.
FM says GST rates to be reduced further, rationalised; Congress demands overhaul
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates will be reduced further as the process of rationalising tax slabs is nearing completion.
'Anti-incumbency is an issue of the past now': J.P. Nadda hails PM Modi's leadership in Tripura rally
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president J.P. Nadda on Sunday said that the political culture in India has changed after Narendra Modi became Prime Minister, adding that people earlier used to talk about the anti-incumbency factor against the government.
Budget Session: Second leg to see fireworks over delimitation row, Trump's tariffs; Waqf Bill on govt's agenda
The second leg of the Budget session of Parliament is set to resume on Monday and is expected to be a stormy one with both the Opposition and Government ready to outdo each other on multiple issues.
PM Modi visits Vice President Dhankhar in AIIMS, wishes him speedy recovery
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday visited the AIIMS Delhi to enquire about the health of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and prayed for his speedy recovery.
India, EU to hold next round of trade talks on March 10
India and the European Union are scheduled to begin the next round of talks for a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) from Monday in Brussels with the aim of concluding the talks by the end of this year, a senior official said.
Nari Shakti is foundation of Viksit Bharat: CM Manik Saha
Tripura Chief Minister Prof. Dr. Manik Saha today said that women are crucial for making Ek Tripura Srestha Tripura and Nari Shakti of the 21st century is the foundation of Viksit Bharat.