12 October 2026
A Division Bench led by Chief Justice Ravindra V. Ghuge, with Justice Om Narayan Rai, sought a report from the West Bengal State Election Commission on the shortage of EVMs and VVPATs. The Commission must also file an affidavit on whether polling data from EVMs and VVPATs can be stored separately on hard disks, and whether that is legally permissible. The first phase is expected to cover seven civic bodies: Kolkata, Howrah, Bally, Haldia, Dhupguri, Kalimpong and Kurseong. Polling is tentatively expected towards the end of November.
Bench led by:
Chief Justice Ravindra V. Ghuge
Civic bodies in first phase:
Seven
Polling expected:
Tentatively end of November
Why it matters for exams: Election machinery and the role of State Election Commissions are standard polity topics.
UPSC
In plain words
VVPAT Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail — A machine that shows a printed slip so a voter can check the vote cast.
SEC State Election Commission — The body that conducts panchayat and municipal elections in a State.
Background
Sundarbans National Park is in West Bengal, India.
UNESCO inscribed it on the World Heritage List in 1987 under the natural criteria (ix) and (x).
The inscribed property covers 133,010 ha.
The Sundarbans as a whole covers 10,000 km2 of land and water in the Ganges delta, divided between India and Bangladesh; UNESCO's brief synthesis estimates that about 66% of the whole mangrove forest area lies in Bangladesh and the remaining 34% in India.
It contains the world's largest area of mangrove forests.
Rare and endangered species living there include the tiger, aquatic mammals, birds and reptiles.
Area of property:
133,010 ha
Date of inscription:
1987
Criteria:
(ix)(x)
State:
West Bengal
Coordinates:
N21 56 42 E88 53 45
Why it matters for exams: The Indian natural World Heritage sites, the year each was inscribed and the area of each property are asked as one-mark questions again and again.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
World Heritage List — The list of cultural and natural places that UNESCO has recognised as having outstanding universal value.
Mangrove — A salt-tolerant forest that grows in the tidal mud of coasts and river deltas.
Background
Santiniketan is in rural West Bengal.
The poet and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore founded it in 1901 as a residential school and centre for art based on ancient Indian traditions.
A 'world university' was established at Santiniketan in 1921, recognizing the unity of humanity or 'Visva Bharati'.
UNESCO inscribed Santiniketan on the World Heritage List in 2023 under the criteria (iv) and (vi).
The inscribed property covers 36 ha and its buffer zone covers 537.73 ha.
Its architecture draws on ancient, medieval and folk traditions of the region and represents a pan-Asian modernity, set apart from British colonial and European modernist styles.
Founded:
1901
World university established:
1921
Date of inscription:
2023
Criteria:
(iv)(vi)
Area of property:
36 ha
Buffer zone:
537.73 ha
Why it matters for exams: Santiniketan, inscribed in 2023, is among India's recent cultural World Heritage additions, and examiners pair its inscription year with the Tagore dates of 1901 and 1921.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Buffer zone — An area around a World Heritage property that is given extra protection to shield the property itself.
Visva Bharati — The name of the world university at Santiniketan, meaning the unity of humanity.
Background
The Indian Statistical Institute was founded by Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis in Kolkata on December 17, 1931.
It gained the status of an Institution of National Importance by an act of the Indian Parliament in 1959.
Mahalanobis was born on 29 June, 1893.
He was the editor of the journal Sankhya.
He remained Director of the Institute until his death on June 28, 1972.
Founded:
December 17, 1931
Founder:
Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis
City:
Kolkata
Institution of National Importance:
1959
Journal:
Sankhya
Why it matters for exams: Mahalanobis, the Institute he founded and the year it became an Institution of National Importance are standard matching material in both state and national papers.
Kerala PSCUPSCBank
In plain words
Institution of National Importance — A status given by an act of Parliament to an institution that serves the country as a whole and may award its own degrees.
Background
The Kolkata Port is the first Major Port as well as the only riverine port of the country.
It came to be governed by a Trust on 17th October, 1870, on appointment of the Commissioners for Improvement of the Port of Calcutta as per Act V of 1870.
On 3 June 2020 the Union Cabinet gave its approval to rename Kolkata Port as Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, after the Board of Trustees of Kolkata Port Trust had passed a resolution to that effect on 25th February, 2020.
Several Indian major ports have been renamed in this way: Nhava Sheva Port Trust was renamed as Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in the year 1989.
Tuticorin Port Trust was renamed as V.O. Chidambaranar Port Trust in 2011.
Kandla Port Trust was renamed as Deendayal Port in 2017.
Present name:
Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, Kolkata
Governed by a Trust from:
17th October, 1870
Enabling Act:
Act V of 1870
Union Cabinet approval for renaming:
3 June 2020
Distinction:
First Major Port and only riverine port of the country
Why it matters for exams: The renamed major ports are a favourite matching set, and Kolkata is the one port an examiner can describe as both the first major port and the only riverine port.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSCBank
In plain words
Major Port — A port of India administered under central law rather than by the state government.
Riverine port — A port built on a river rather than on the open coast, so ships must sail upstream to reach it.
Background
The Farakka Barrage Project (FBP) was commissioned in 1975 for preservation & maintenance of the Kolkata Port and for increasing the navigational depth of the Bhagirathi - Hooghly waterway.
The Farakka barrage in West Bengal regulates the flow of the Ganga, diverting some of the water into a feeder canal linking Hooghly to keep it relatively silt-free.
Downstream of the barrage the Ganga splits into two: the Bhagirathi (Hooghly) on the right and the Padma on the left, which enters Bangladesh.
The project has a total of 123 gates, and phase wise replacement of the gates of the main barrage and of the Head Regulator has been undertaken by the project authority.
Farakka is the last control structure on river Ganga in India, and the flow in the Ganga/Padma river and in the Farakka canal is regulated as per the India-Bangladesh Treaty-1996.
Under that Treaty the Ganga/Ganges waters are shared at Farakka during the lean period, from 1st January to 31st May every year, on a 10-day period basis as per the formula provided in the Treaty.
River:
Ganga
State:
West Bengal
Commissioned:
1975
Purpose:
preservation & maintenance of the Kolkata Port
Waterway kept navigable:
Bhagirathi - Hooghly waterway
Total gates:
123
Water sharing with Bangladesh:
India-Bangladesh Treaty-1996
Lean-season sharing period:
from 1st January to 31st May every year
Why it matters for exams: Farakka joins three favourite topics in one answer — a Ganga engineering work, the survival of Kolkata port, and India's water sharing with Bangladesh.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Barrage — A low gated structure across a river that raises and regulates the water level without storing a large reservoir.
Feeder canal — A canal that takes water from a barrage and carries it to another channel; at Farakka it links the Ganga to the Hooghly.
Head regulator — The gated structure at the mouth of a canal that controls how much water enters it.
Background
The Sundarbans National Park in West Bengal was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1987, with India as the State Party. The listed property covers 133,010 hectares. UNESCO says the wider Sundarbans, in the Ganges delta, cover about 10,000 sq. km of land and water, more than half of it in India and the rest in Bangladesh. UNESCO says the Sundarbans contain the world's largest mangrove forests. The mangrove habitat supports the single largest population of tigers in the world, which have adapted to an almost amphibious life. Irrawaddy and Ganges River dolphins and the king cobra also live there.
Area (listed property):
133,010 hectares
Inscribed on World Heritage List:
1987
State Party:
India
Why it matters for exams: The Sundarbans is a core topic for geography, environment and World Heritage questions about West Bengal.
Kerala PSCUPSC
Background
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway opened in 1881. It runs for 88.48 km from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling on a gauge of 2 feet (0.610 meter). Its innovative design includes six zigzag reverses and three loops. It was inscribed in 1999 as part of the Mountain Railways of India, with the Nilgiri Mountain Railway and the Kalka Shimla Railway. UNESCO says the design of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway applies bold and ingenious engineering solutions to the problem of establishing an effective rail link across mountainous terrain of great beauty.
Length:
88.48 km
Gauge:
2 feet (0.610 meter)
Opened:
1881
Why it matters for exams: Railway heritage and the list of Indian World Heritage properties are regular exam topics.
Kerala PSCUPSC