If the finance ministry finally allows the railways to expand its list of goods exempted from the service tax ambit, instead of a complete rollback to the 10 per cent service tax imposed on frieght movement, it could come as a reprieve for Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Despite getting a bigger-than-sought package from the central government for West Bengal and despite the Congress refraining from putting up a candidate in the Rajya Sabha elections from the state, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has made up her mind that she will continue to oppose most of the central government bills, projects and schemes.
Expressing shock at volleyball player Arunima Sinha being thrown out of a train in Bareilly, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday held both Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati responsible for the incident.
The Indian Railways on Wednesday said it suffered an estimated loss of Rs 13,675 crore (Rs 136.75 billion) in the current fiscal on account of various social service obligations, including suburban and non-suburban services.
Each MFC will be built at a cost of up to Rs 8 crore (Rs 80 million), she said adding the work has been entrusted to IRCON and Rail Land Development Authority. IRCON and RLDA have already taken up the work in a phased manner and drawn up action plan for development of business models, architectural and structural designs suiting local architecture and local ethos, Banerjee said.
Trinamool Congress chief and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee welcomed Maoist leader Kishenji's ceasefire offer on Wednesday and said all problems should be solved by diplomatic process.
A senior railway official said, "It (white paper) isalmost ready and final touches are being given to it."
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has invited President Pranab Mukherjee to visit the state, Railway Minister Mukul Roy said on Wednesday.
"The Rail Budget is likely to be presented on July 8. The ministry is preparing a status report to be presented before the Railway Minister. The report is to be submitted in a day or two and after that the budget outline will be drawn by the minister," a senior ministry official said.
Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said that Trinamool Congress was totally against forcible acquisition of land for industrial purposes and the choice of giving up land should be left to the people. "We are against forcible acquisition of land. Our party fought in Singur and Nandigram against land acquisition. If the people agree to give land, it is their decision," Banerjee said.
Maoist attacks have led to 217 disruptions in the movement of trains as a result of which the Railways have suffered a loss of Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion), Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee informed the Rajya Sabha on Friday.
The prime minister had expressed concern over the price rise and convened a meeting of chief ministers, Mamata Banerjee said.
Dismissing suggestions that the Rail Budget was West Bengal-centric, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said those raising the issue are 'humiliating' the state and advised journalists not to ask 'politically manipulative' questions.
If the Indian Railways, therefore, wishes to implement its expenditure plans as outlined in the Interim Railway Budget, it has to look for alternative sources of funding. One option under study is to adopt the PPP route to implement new projects. Mamata Banerjee's first Railway Budget in the United Progressive Alliance government, therefore, may outline major PPP initiatives for several new projects, say railway officials.
The net revenue of the Indian Railways is likely to grow by 32.93 per cent to Rs 11,993.13 crore (Rs 119.93 billion) in 2011-12 compared to revised estimated income for this fiscal, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Friday.
After slamming the Centre for the steep hike in petrol price, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday hit the streets in Kolkata, leading a massive protest march to put pressure on the United Progressive Alliance government for a roll-back. Banerjee, who was accompanied by Railway Minister Mukul Roy, party functionaries and thousands of Trinamool Congress workers, marched from Jadavpur to Hazra crossing, a distance of five km in south Kolkata.
"We have some doubts in our mind. Whatever has happened is not a casual thing. We will take strong steps against those who are behind this," she said.
The forthcoming Railway Budget is, perhaps, going to be the toughest one for Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday alleged that there was a political conspiracy behind the Gyaneshwari Express disaster in West Midnapore and said the Centre has agreed for a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the mishap. "From the railways, we have requested the Union home ministry for a CBI investigation into the incident, since it was in Jangalmahal where the joint operation (against Maoists) is on."
A 10-member Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team on Monday visited the Balasore train accident site and began its probe into the triple train crash, a Railway official said.
With recovery of a huge quantity of arms and ammunition recently from houses of some CPI(M) leaders at Khejuri in East Midnapore district, Railway minister Mamata Banerjee today suggested involvement of central agencies in combing operations and accused the Left Front government of using the police for partisan ends.
The NSE Nifty closed at 4861, lower by eight points. The mid-cap and small-cap indices ended marginally lower.
Investment to the tune of Rs 14 lakh crore would be required to transform Railways into "world-class standards" and meet other targets for the coming decade, the Railway Vision Document 2020 tabled on Friday said.
According to sale deeds, land worth crores of rupees have been sold to Prasad's close relatives in Gopalgunj and Patna.
Mamata appealed to business houses to join hands for building partnership with the Railways.
We have here a list of a dozen of her proposals in random order. Please take the poll at the end of the slide show to select the one which you feel is the best thing about this year's Railway Budget.
The Trinamool Congress chief opposed a major provision in the Bill which provides for private developers acquiring 70 per cent of the land for a proposed industrial project directly from the farmers and land-owners.
It was the humble 'jhola' rather than the traditional leather briefcase Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee preferred to bring her budget papers to Parliament on Friday.
The meeting is a prelude to the framing of a public private partnership policy for the railways.
Privatising the railways is not on her agenda. But the minister wants to earn revenue for the government by all means possible, and also do social good. railway Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee talks of her pet public-private partnership and Vision 2020. Edited excerpts:
The Railways have slashed service charges levied on purchase of e-tickets by half from April 1.
The Rail Budget will be presented in the first week of July and a balance between the 'commercial and human face' of the railways will be maintained, railway minister Mamata Banerjee said on Thursday. She also hinted that she would spend more time in her home state than in Delhi as the official work can also be carried out from West Bengal.
The Indian Railways has called a two-day meeting of all zonal railway managers in New Delhi this month to review ongoing projects and discuss measures to improve the financial position in wake of a stiff rise in running cost and fears of the PSU missing earning targets.
Dinesh Trivedi takes a dig at Mamata over cartoon row
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has no qualms in mixing economics with politics, which is evident from her reaction to the railway budget, says Renu Mittal.
The WWF had earlier asked for halting movement of night trains in the New Jalpaiguri-Alipurduar section passing through wildlife sanctuaries and National Parks and restricting their speed.
A day after Home Minister P Chidambaram said Maoists could be behind the attack on Jnaneswari Express, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said she was not sure about the involvement of the Left-wing extremists.
The Congress on Saturday expressed anguish at Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee's absence in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's engagements at the Science City in Kolkata and described her public outbursts against United Progressive Alliance government's policies as 'an embarrassment'. "It is sheer embarrassment for the Congress party when a major ally of the UPA government, particularly its seven ministers in the Union ministry, criticises central government policies in public.
Presenting the Rail Budget for 2010-11 in Parliament on Wednesday, Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee said that there will be no increase in the passenger fares of any class or category of trains.
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