While hospitals and medical colleges in West Bengal are grappling with frequent cases of infant deaths, the State Health department has issued a directive to all State-run hospitals to conduct an in-house inquiry in the event of three or more infant deaths on a single day.

Minister of State for Health Chandrima Bhattacharya told The Hindu on Wednesday that the directive was issued to make sure that there was no negligence by hospital authorities in providing treatment to newborns.

The spectre of infant deaths continued to haunt government hospitals in West Bengal, with 19 cases reported in Malda and Bankura over the past two days. While nine infants died in the Malda Medical College and Hospital, 10 children were reported dead in the Bankura Sammilani Medical College and Hospital.

The babies who died in the Bankura hospital were “suffering from pneumonia and birth asphyxia, while some had low birth weight,” superintendent Panchanan Kundu said.

Sixth anniversary of the implementation of the scheme

On the sixth anniversary of the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Guarantee Employment Scheme (MNREGS) there were protests outside the office of State Minister for Panchayat and Rural Development Subrata Mukherjee here on Thursday against the absence of work and delay in payment of wages under the scheme.

An analysis of tiger scat samples collected from January to May this year at the Buxa Tiger Reserve in north Bengal has revealed the presence of 20 tigers in the reserve forest, senior officials of the tiger reserve said here on Wednesday. “We have got the report from Centre for Cellular Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, which says there are 20 tigers in the reserve. These figures are very encouraging to us,” R P Saini, the Field Director of Buxa Tiger Reserve told The Hindu over telephone.

Once a flashpoint in Indo-Bangla ties, the New Moore island or Purbasha in the Bay of Bengal, which Dhaka called the South Talpatti, has ceased to exist, consumed by hungry tides and the rising sea.

This was announced on Monday by the School of Oceanographic Studies, Jadavpur University after it scrutinised recent satellite maps of the region.