'We want to make Bengal an automobile hub.'
As the Congress brass is gearing up for the Cabinet reshuffle after the current Parliament session, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has sought TC chief Mamata Banerjee's suggestions for her party's new nominee. Banerjee has conveyed to the PM and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee that she has nominated Sudip Banerjee for this slot.
Acting against the wishes of the entire state unit of the Congress and even senior central leaders, Gandhi decided to give two prestigious Assembly seats, Sealdah and Bowbazar, to the TC, on Saturday night. Byelections to these seats are slated for this month.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday stepped in to ensure cabinet ministers don't keep their junior ministers idle but give them more work to do.After reading out her written speech in the Congress Parliamentary Party meeting in New Delhi on Thursday, Gandhi made an unusual impromptu addition over this issue. According to insiders, Gandhi -- in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and most of the Congress cabinet ministers -- pitched for Ministers of State.
According to a Cabinet minister, the UPA's focus during the remaining period of the Budget session will be on passing the Right to Education Bill. Apart from this, the government is planning to bring a Bill to amend the Rubber Act and the National Commission for Heritage Sites Bill. The government will be occupied till July 27 with the General Budget, as contained in the Finance Bill. It will actually not get more than seven days to deal with other legislative business.
Although the CPI-M has emphasised that the railway panel's post is its top choice, Congress floor managers have already conveyed to the comrades that 'it will be difficult' to fulfil their dreams. The CPI-M is likely to get the chairman's seat in the Standing Committee on coal and steel or energy.
Most of the Budget work is done; only some "final touches" remain. For those, he will soon sit with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh--who was governor of the Reserve Bank during Mukherjee's stint in North Block in the 80s--before his draft speech goes to print.
CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat points out that states like Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh have imposed a formal ban on the Naxalite organisations long ago. "But has the situation improved there? Their situation is similar to that of West Bengal," Karat told Business Standard.
Leaders from other state units are coming to VS's aid ahead of the party's crucial Central Committee meeting even as some ministers of his Cabinet have refused to work with him.
Among the aam aadmi measures, leaders sought an increase in the minimum support price mainly for sugarcane, income tax relief to the salaried class and more benefits to senior citizens. Suggestions were also made to increase subsidy for diesel for farmers and fishermen. Soft loans for minorities and SC/STs were also demanded. But issues like disinvestment, SEZ amendments, insurance bill or financial sector reforms were not discussed.
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee will seek Rs 15,000 crore from the Centre for building a "mini Chinese Wall" along the coastal area of the Sundarbans to protect the area's 4.1 million people from further cyclones and high tides. The area was recently hit by cyclone Aila.
The ambitious project of the urban development ministry, pegged at Rs 4,676 crore, was originally scheduled to be completed in 2015. It is to be executed through a joint venture company of the central and state government. Equity participation of the state and central government will be on a 50:50 basis. But soon after taking charge of the railway ministry, Banerjee had a talk with Union Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy about her apprehensions.
As indicated by Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, the UPA government has already initiated process to make higher allocation in social sector.
The Union government is on a social sector roll. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had indicated that the United Progressive Alliance government was going to make the social sector the centrepiece of the upcoming Budget. According to Dilip Ghosh, special secretary, Panchayat Raj department of West Bengal, the Centre has indicated that the demand for grants for these projects should be hiked at least 50 per cent more than the present allocation.
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was on Sunday gheraoed twice by relief seekers in the state's South 24 Parganas, the district worst-hit by cyclone Aila, even as the government prepared a memorandum seeking assistance of Rs 1,000 for submission to the Centre.The chief minister had gone to Gosaba in the Sunderbans to see the extent of the disaster and distribution of relief materials.
Last year, she drove the Tata Motors' Nano factory out from West Bengal. Three days ago, Trinamool Congress chief and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee turned down another Tata offer a donation of Rs 27,70,660 to her party from the Tata Sons Electoral Trust.
A 120-acre city centre in Kharagpur, about 100 km from Kolkata, became the first casualty of the CPI-M-led Left Front government's poor showing in the recent general elections. More such projects are likely to be cancelled as the four-party Left coalition, which has ruled the state since 1977, decided to opt for a "standstill policy" on industrial projects.
As the sun slowly sets behind the skyline of factory buildings, a group of women enters the Vasantham Textiles mill in this industrial town. They position themselves behind their respective sewing machines to stitch T-shirts. But many machines in another corner of the large hall remain unattended.
If the Third Front -- currently comprising nine parties opposed to both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party -- manages to get more seats than the Congress, the Communist Party of India - Marxist led Left Front will work towards ensuring that the next prime minister is made from this bloc.But if the Congress' own tally turns out to be larger than the cumulative strength of the alternative-seekers, the Left will support a Congressman for the top slot.
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