Most senior leaders were not present at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi on the day of the outcome of poll results in five states. The leaders present at the headquarters stayed glued to television sets throughout the day, analysing results
"The polls were held absolutely peaceful and totally incident free," Deputy Election Commissioner Vinod Zutshi told media persons at the end of polling.
The Reliance group is interested in setting up its second Information and Technology University in West Bengal after its first one in Gujarat.
The government had sought additional loan from the World Bank which will be over and above the net disbursement to India, Bansal said. This additional lending will include assistance to the infrastructure projects. It has also put in place various policy measures, including cut in duty rates of customs and central excise, liberalisation of foreign trade regime, re-finance facility to National Housing Bank and Small Industries Development Bank of India, the minister said.
Critical of India's "poor" ranking in terms of investment climate, World Bank on Monday said the economy could grow by 2 per cent if it improves infrastructure, business regulations, labour and land laws.
The full bench of the Election Commission will visit West Bengal on Thursday to oversee the poll preparedness for the last three phases of the assembly polls. Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi and the other two Election Commissioners V.S. Sampath and HS Brahma will arrive in Kolkata in the morning and hold meeting with the representatives of the political parties.
Exuding confidence that Left Front would come back in its bastions, Communist Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Prakash Karat on Monday criticised the United Progressive Alliance-II for following anti-people policy. "In the UPA's first term, the Left exercised all restrains and succeed in checking prices, disinvestment and subjugation by the government to the corporate," said Karat.
The estimate was presented in the Damage and Needs Assessment (DNA), a survey conducted nationwide by ADB and the World Bank to assess the extent of the flood damage.
In a shrill attack on the Centre, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday accused it of an "unholy nexus" with the erstwhile Left Front government of West Bengal, leaving the state in a "disastrous" financial situation with a debt burden of Rs 2 lakh crore, and warned that her patience was running out.
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Saturday censured veteran Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Anil Basu for using expletives against Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee at an election meeting, while the Trinamool Congress demanded his arrest.
Two presiding officers were removed following allegation of influencing voters and an election agent of Communist Party of India-Marxist detained for interrogation after postal ballots were recovered from him, the sources said in Kolkata.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's emphasis on a rigid land policy has pleased the farming community but not the industry.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday termed the West Bengal assembly polls as a "freedom movement" of people entangled into 35-year-long vicious cycle of "oppression".
In what could be a history of sorts, a survery conducted by Star Ananda-Star News-AC Nielsen predicts a two-third majority for the Mamta Banerjee-led All India Trinamool Congress-Congress alliance.
Prakash Karat, the head (general secretary) of the country's premier Left party, the Communist Party of India -Marxist, tells Saubhadra Chatterji it won't be doomsday if they lose power in West Bengal.
Firmly opposing the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said her party would not allow any move to divide West Bengal.
The names of 75 sex workers and their families existed on the electoral rolls in Shantipur constituency, but only 20 per cent turned up to vote in the last elections.
The West Bengal assembly on Tuesday plunged into bedlam with ruling Trinamool Congress and Left members coming to blows and the speaker suspending three Left MLAs, while three injured members were taken to hospital.
The dissent in Congress ranks ahead of the West Bengal assembly polls has worsened in several districts over the alliance with the Trinamool Congress and selection of party candidates with Congress rebels filing nominations as independents in some places.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's seat offer is unacceptable to the Congress. With Banerjee playing hard to get, the Congress may consider going alone in West Bengal. Renu Mittal reports.
Senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday night had a meeting with party MPs, district presidents, Pradesh Congress Committee chief and Congress Legislature Party leader of West Bengal to discuss the strategy for the upcoming assembly polls in the state.
A section of state Congress leaders questioned Bhuniya's demand that the party should be given 98 (one-third) of the 294 Assembly seats even before seat-sharing talks began with Trinamool Congress.
Alarmed at the deteriorating financial health of states, World Bank on Tuesday suggested sweeping reforms including early introduction of value-added tax, expenditure control and other fiscal discipline measures to eliminate their revenue deficit by
The issue of alliances in the coming assembly polls in five states including West Bengal and Tamil Nadu is ticklish for the Congress with the regional parties in both states playing the 'big brother'.
At least 12 pilgrims from Jharkhand were killed and 13 others injured when a truck hit a stranded bus on Durgapur Expressway at Chanditala in Hooghly district early Wednesday, the police said.
Congress on Wednesday made known its unhappiness over its senior leader Kapil Sibal representing West Bengal government in the multi-crore rupees Saradha scam in the Supreme Court, two days after its state unit expressed objection to it.
Maoists were getting encouragement from civil society and support of well-minded citizens was required to stem the menace, West Bengal Governor M K Narayanan said on Friday."The Maoists are getting the upper hand in people's mind because they are getting encouragement from a section of civil society," Narayanan said. "We need the support of well minded citizens so that matters don't go out of control," he said.
The Centre will continue to help the West Bengal government in its efforts to resolve the Darjeeling crisis despite the Left's withdrawal of support to the United Progressive Alliance government, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said.This assurance was given during a meeting between Mukherjee and Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee in Kolkata on Sunday.The chief minister has already requested Patil for tripartite talks to resolve the Darjeeling deadlock.
Taking a pro-active stand on the law and order situation in the state, West Bengal Governor M K Narayanan is likely to visit Netai village in strife-torn Lalgrah area, where seven unarmed villagers were killed recently.On Thursday, Narayanan had reviewed the overall situation arising out of the spurt in political violence in the state with the top brass of the administration at Raj Bhavan. He had summoned Chief Secretary Samar Ghosh, Home Secretary G D Goutama.
The police on Thursday claimed to have cracked the murder case of a human rights activist at Tetultala in West Bengal's Howrah district in a parcel bomb blast in September, with the arrest of three people. Biswajit Majhi, Abhisekh Roy and Subhankar Das were arrested in connection with the case, police sources said.
Despite severing of ties between the two parties, the Trinamool Congress hasn't put up any candidate for the Jangipur bypoll against Congress nominee Abhijit Mukherjee, son of President Pranab Mukherjee.
Chidambaram's strong letter to Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee comes in the wake of ally Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee alleging misuse of central security forces in the state and offering to quit if her charge was proved wrong.
Protest continued on Sunday for the fourth consecutive day in Bihar against the attackers of a 16-year-old girl who was gang-raped and set ablaze in Kolkata in West Bengal demanding death sentence to the accused and a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into it.
Bus services in the city and some districts of West Bengal were hit on Monday as a section of private bus operators began an indefinite strike pressing for increase in fare, a demand rejected by the state government.
The report -- World Investment and Political Risk -- which was launched by the World Bank's Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency said the net FDI inflows into the developing countries is projected to touch $416 billion in 2010, up from its 2009 level of $354 billion.
Ashodaya Samithi, an organisation of female, male and transgender sex workers in Karnataka, is addressing the issue of social stigma and discrimination towards HIV+ sex workers and sex workers in general by promoting entrepreneurship among them. Its efforts towards this has given shape to an innovative and sustainable project -- a community kitchen in Mysore.
Less than five months after Tata Motors relocated its Nano project from West Bengal to Gujarat over land issues, another Tata group company, Tata Metaliks, is reviewing its expansion project in the state on similar grounds.
Murshidabad district alone accounted for 18 deaths, mostly in clashes and bomb attacks between Congress and CPI-M supporters on Sunday, with Chief Medical Officer (Health) M G Mondal confirming 11 deaths at Domkol, two each in Raninagar, Lalgola and Kandi and one at Sagardighi. District Magistrate Subir Bhadra said one CPI-M activist was killed and another injured in an armed clash with Congress workers at Rezinagar, 40 km off Berhampore, on Monday morning.
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