NEWS
31-08-2013
•  Hon’ble Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee paid floral tribute to the martyrs of the Khadya Andolan. On August 31, 1959, around 80 people died protesting their right for getting food in Kolkata.

•  Hon’ble Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee paid floral tribute to filmmaker Late Riturarno Ghosh on his 50th Birth Anniversary at Writers’ Buildings.
30-08-2013
•  Hon'ble Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was the Chief Guest at the 2nd edition of the annual cultural programme of the Kolkata Police entitled ‘Jayo He’ at Netaji Indoor Stadium. In her speech, she said the the Kolkata Police should reach the top spot. She also added that cultural activities should create a bridge with administration and thus uphold humanity. She presented honorary medals on behalf of the Kolkata Police to actor Prasenjit Chatterjee, singer Lopamudra Mitra and danseuse Aloknanda Roy. Present on the occasion were the Chief Secretary of the State, the Home Secretary, the Police Commissioner of Kolkata, Hon'ble Finance Minister Amit Mitra, Hon'ble Minister of Urban Development Firhad Hakim, Hon'ble Minister of Youth Affairs Aroop Biswas, Hon'ble Minister of Transport and Sports Madan Mitra, Hon'ble Mayor of Kolkata Sovan Chatterjee, artistes Bappi Lahiri, Jeet Gangopadhyay, Dev, Koel, Payel, Shrabanti, Abir Chatterjee and other dignitaries.
29-08-2013
•  Hon’ble Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, while addressing the press after a cabinet meeting, said that the several policies have been cleared, but fiscal incentives for setting up units in West Bengal would be considered by her government only on the basis of performance by the industries. 3 policies were approved that day: small scale industry policy, big scale industry policy and textile industry policy. Hence the government has decided to give importance to the textile policy, as it had been neglected. Within a year, nearly 1 crore jobs will be created in the sector. The SC, ST, OBC and Minorities will get benefited. At national level our share is 5.2 that will be increased to 10 %. There was no specific textile policy as a result the West Bengal handloom sector was suffering. An integrated policy will be implemented for textile sector. So that people who invest in Maharashtra and Gujarat, will invest in Bengal also. For Government Mill supervision Spinfed Holding Company will be created to bring all companies under one umbrella. Silk industry will be restructured into West Bengal Silk Development Corporation. Modernized design centers will be established for handloom industry to flourish. Nadia will get Indian Institute of Handloom Technology, Design Center, Textile Park, and Mega Powerloom Park for higher quality manufacturing. A Mega Powerloom Park near Belur, will be created on a 100 acre of land. Almost 200 handloom clusters will come up in the State. As a result `resham`, `tant`, handloom and powerloom workers will be benefited. Capital investors will get interest, power, stamp duty, vat, entry tax, etc., exemption. Investors investing in Cooch Behar, Purulia and Dakshin Dinajpur will get special exemptions. Hon’ble Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, while commenting on the present economic situation of the country said that the economic situation in the country has indirect connection with industry because it impacts on every sector, right from kitchen to everywhere. On the state land policy, she said that West Bengal has witnessed land movements. The State Government’s decision on this matter is transparent. On the issue of the present situation of the Hills, Hon’ble Chief Minister said she would never allow separation of Darjeeling from Bengal and appealed Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) to maintain peace in the hills and allow development works. Hon’ble Chief Minister also asked why GJM has been demanding a separate statehood at a time when Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) has been formed and everything has been provided to them. She announced that she would visit Darjeeling on September 3.

•   Hon'ble Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee paid tribute to rebel poet Kazi Nazrul Islam on his 37th death anniversary at Writers' Buildings.
27-08-2013
•  Hon’ble Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee planted saplings on the grounds of West Bengal Legislative Assembly in a yearly programme of Brikhsharopan. She was accompanied by the Parliamentary Affairs Minister Partha Chottopadhyay, Speaker Biman Bondyopadhyay, Chief Government Whip Shovandeb Chattopadhyay, Leader of the Opposition Surjokanto Mishra among other members of the House. The Hon’ble Chief Minister opined that the programme of planting trees at the Assembly may have been a small one but the message it sent out was huge. She said that our heart, our soul and our thoughts are new like the lush greenery.
26-08-2013
•  Hon’ble Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee paid floral tribute to Mother Teresa on her 103rd Birth Anniversary at Writers’ Buildings. The Superior General of the Missionaries of Charities, Sister Prema was present on the occasion along with other nuns. Children from different organizations of the Missionaries of Charities were also present on the occasion who made the occasion memorable with their song performance. The Hon’ble Chief Minister said that Mother Teresa was the apostle of peace, brotherhood and service to humanity, particularly the uncared for and the poorest of the poor. She said that Mother Teresa’s life and her works epitomize selfless service to the suffering millions.
22-08-2013
•  Hon'ble Chief Minister paid floral tribute to legendary Rabindra Sangeet singer Debabrata Biswas on his 102nd Birth Anniversary and versatile theatre activist Sambhu Mitra on his 98th Birth Anniversary at Writers' Buildings.
21-08-2013
•  Hon'ble Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee celebrated 'Rakhi Bandhan Utsab' at Writers' Buildings. She tied 'Rakhi'- the friendship threads to Ministers, Govt. officials and other collegues of the Secretariat. On this auspicious day, she extended her love, affection and heart-felt greetings to all the people of the state. She said that, 'Rakhi Bandhan' should be celebrated by all sections of people. She put forward her message of unity, fraternity and communal harmony, through Rakhi Bandhan.
20-08-2013
•  Hon’ble Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee paid floral tributes to Ex Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on his 69th Birth Anniversary, legendary footballer Gostho Pal on his 117th Birth Aniversary and litterateur Jyotirindra Nandi on his 101st Birth Anniversary at Writers’ Buildings. The family members of Gostho Pal were present on this day. A musical performance was presented by the artists from Lokaranjan Shakha.

•  Hon’ble Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee convened a meeting at Town Hall with all the Ministers, Secretaries, Departmental Heads and District Magistrates. The meeting was to discuss how to bring more pace in developmental works across the state. Hon’ble Chief Minister laid stress on completion of all projects undertaken by different departments. It was instructed by her to keep a keen and efficient watch that none of the projects that has been undertaken remain unfinished and should be completed at the shortest possible time.
19-08-2013
•  Hon’ble Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee convened a meeting at Writers’ Buildings with the core committee members of the forthcoming 19th Kolkata International Film Festival, to be held from November 10-17, 2013. The agenda of the meeting was how to better the festival, make it accessible to more people, technical matters and the budget among other points. Hon’ble Chief Minister suggested that the opening film may be an unreleased Rituparno Ghosh movie. A retrospective of Rituparno Ghosh’s films may also be screened in the Festival to pay a befitting homage to the filmmaker. Hon’ble Minister for Youth Services, Aroop Biswas, Hon’ble Minister of Education, Bratya Basu and Kolkata Mayor Sovan Chatterjee were present in the meeting. The meeting was attended by the festival’s core committee members Sandip Ray, Prabhat Roy, Ranjit Mallick, Haranath Chakraborty, Debasree Roy, Indrani Halder, Raj Chakraborty, Rajat RoyChowdhury, Shrikant Mohta, Sandhya Roy, Goutam Bhattacharya and Surinder Singh.
17-08-2013
•  Hon’ble Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited the Belur Math to meet the Mission President Atmasthananda Maharaj. The Chief Secretary, the Home Secretary, the Director-General of Police and other Senior Officials accompanied the Hon’ble chief Minister. During the discussion with the Ramkrishna Mission President and other Maharajs, she expressed her desire to build a world class Tourism Centre around the Kolkata-Dakshineshwar-Belur circuit. She also informed the Belur Math officials regarding State Government’s plan to start a ferry service connecting Dakshineswar and Belur Math. Besides that, she also had a discussion with the Ramkrishna Mission authorities regarding the preliminary plan to handover the charge of Shambhunath Pandit Hospital to the Ramkrishna Mission. She also visited the room where Swami Vivekananda spent his time during his stay at the Belur Math.
15-08-2013
•  Hon’ble Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee hoisted the National Flag on the occasion of the celebration of the 67th Independence Day. Hon’ble Chief Minister witnessed a march-past in which personnel of Kolkata Police, West Bengal Police, Eastern Frontier Rifles, Kolkata Police Rapid Action Force and students from different schools took part. The programme was marked with performances by tribal folk artistes from different parts of the state, which included Chhou dance and Baul songs. Tableaux from state government departments of Agriculture, Micro & Small Scale Industries, Information & Culture among others took part in the programme.
14-08-2013
•  Hon’ble Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee inaugurated the Lake Mall at Lake Market, Kolkata, in a programme organized by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. The Lake Mall has been constructed in a PPP model. At the programme, she urged business houses to come forward to restore dilapidated government markets that need urgent restoration. Hon’ble MP, South Kolkata, Subrata Bakshi, Hon’ble Cabinet Ministers, Subrata Mukherjee, Firhad Hakim, Aroop Biswas, Hon’ble MLA Sovandeb Chatterjee, Hon’ble Mayor of Kolkata Sovan Chatterjee, other members of Mayor-in-Council, stars from film fraternity were present on the occasion.
13-08-2013
•  Hon’ble Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee convened a meeting at Rotanda in Writers' Buildings with the probationary Block Development Officers, ahead of being appointed as BDOs. She urged them to overcome all political pressures and instead stress upon rural schemes, principally those for women. She asked the BDO’s to that attention needs to be paid for implementing the recently-introduced 'Kanyashree' scheme for women empowerment.
11-08-2013
•  State Government paid tribute to martyr Khudiram Basu on his 105th death anniversary at Writers` Buildings.
10-08-2013
•  Hon’ble Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in a press conference at Writers’ Buildings said that as par the order of the Hon’ble HC, the State Government will be forced to take strong action if strike called by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha in Hills is not called off within 72 hours. She said that schools, colleges, ration shops, transportation, roads, developmental work, has all come to a halt and the strike is being done by force, against the will of the common people. She requested the Central Government not to pursue divide and rule policy. Hon’ble Chief Minister said that one should think with unity, speak with unity and work together. She said that one should not break and should make. She said that it is not possible to accept these demands of separate states.

•  Hon’ble Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited the 8 injured police officers at SSKM Hospital who met with an accident near Kalighat.
09-08-2013
•  Hon’ble Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee greeted all a happy Eid. She attended the Eid prayers on the arterial Indira Gandhi Sarani on the holy occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr organized by the Khilafat Committee. She announced that the reservation for minorities would be introduced in higher education from the 2014 academic session. She said her government would extend help to the Muslim youth to start small shops, business establishments and other small scale business in the city as also the districts.
08-08-2013
•  Hon’ble Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee released a commemorative volume of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s Gitanjali (Song Offerings) in 14 languages on ‘Baishe Shrabon’, the 72nd death Anniversary of the poet. She paid tributes to the poet at his ancestral house at Jorasanko in north-central Kolkata. Hon’ble Education Minister and Vice Chancellor of Rabindra Bharati University were present on the occasion among other notable dignitaries.
07-08-2013
•  Hon’ble Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee handed over the land agreement document to Reliance Cements for setting up a Rs 600-crore unit in Purulia district. The three-million-tonne capacity cement project will be completed in two-and-a-half years on a 100-acre plot at Raghunathpur in the Purulia district.

•  A modern and sophisticated 'Breast Milk Bank', stated to be the first in Eastern India in the public sector, was inaugurated in Kolkata at the SSKM Hospital by Hon’ble Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. It is a novel scheme to cater to the basic needs of a child who is just born, but does not get the milk from the mother or when the mother dies after giving birth to the child, opined Hon’ble Chief Minister, stressing on the importance of breast feeding. The Hon’ble Chief Minister also said that it is the most modernized and advanced 'Breast Milk Bank' which has been set up with utmost care so that it is infection free. She said that it will cater to the need of babies who normally do not get mother's milk. The Hon’ble Minister of State, Health, was also present on the occasion.

•  Hon’ble Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee presided over the industrial core committee meeting at Writers` Buildings. She announced a number of initiatives to promote industry in Bengal. She said in the meeting that land would not be a problem for industry and provided a list of plots available with the government. The initiatives announced by Hon’ble Chief Minister - • Feedback on the draft policies on industry, textiles and medium and small enterprises to be submitted by August 31. • Industries promising more employment and ready to move to backward districts to be given priority • Special incentives for setting up industry in Cooch Behar and South Dinajpur • Focus on small and medium enterprises. Conclave on micro, small and medium enterprises to be held at Milan Mela grounds from September 18 to 22 • Government to groom 1000 young entrepreneurs, industrialists to mentor entrepreneurs.

•  Hon’ble Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited Dumurjala Stadium complex in Howrah to inspect the facilities available for annex building of Legislative Assembly and a new building for the State Secretariat.

•  Hon’ble Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee paid tribute to Abanindranath Tagore on his 142nd birth anniversary at Writers`Buildings.
06-08-2013
•  Hon’ble Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee attended the centenary celebration programme of Dainik Basumati, the erstwhile Bengali newspaper, published by Basumati Corporation Ltd., which is now a state government undertaking. She said that the government will continue to support Basumati Corporation Ltd and will not allow the heritage organization to fade away. The Basumati Sahitya Mandir, which published dailies and monthly magazine plays major role in reviving society. Many eminent Bengali litterateurs write in the publication. Bengal is proud of Basumati, said Hon’ble Chief Minister. Eminent authors Sanjib Chattopadhyay, Sirshendu Mukhopadhyay and Mani Shankar Mukherjee were present on the occasion. Five former employees and five present senior employees were felicitated by the Hon’ble Chief Minister.

•  Hon’ble Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced at Writers’ Buildings, a three-year sales tax waiver on aviation turbine fuel in Bagdogra, making it the cheapest airport in the country for airlines that want to refuel. She also announced a 50% slash in sales tax on additional ATF lifted by airlines from Kolkata airport. The waiver was extended to Cooch Behar and Durgapur airports as well.
05-08-2013
•  3 new police stations start operations at Madhyamgram, Shasan and Duttapukur in North 24 Parganas as promised by Hon’ble Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. These three new police stations, along with the existing Barasat PS will help in maintaining law and order in the Barasat and adjoining areas.
02-08-2013
•  State Government paid tribute to eminent scientist Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray on his 152nd birth anniversary at Writers` Building.
01-08-2013
•  ‘Bengal Beckons’, an Industrial Meet was organized by West Bengal Government at World Trade Centre, Mumbai. Referring Mumbai as the commercial capital of India, the Hon’ble Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee put forward the potentialities present in West Bengal for creating new industries. She said that nowadays the bandh and strikes have been reduced in a large extent and work culture is very good. West Bengal is the Gateway to the neighbouring states as well as the neighbouring countries in the North-East, where business opportunities can be tapped. The representatives from India Inc. present at the summit were: Mukesh Ambani- Chairman, RIL, Adi Godrej- Chairman, Godrej Group, Sajjan Jindal- CMD, JSW Steel, Uday Kotak- VC and MD, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Yogi Deveshwar- Chairman, ITC, CS Varma- Chairman, SAIL, Chanda Kochhar- MD and CEO, ICICI Bank, N. Chandrasekaran- MD, TCS, Nitin Paranjape- MD and CEO, Hindustan Unilever, Sanjiv Goenka- Chairman, RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, Harsh Goenka- Chairman, RPG Enterprises, Venugopal Dhoot- Chairman, Videocon, Madhur Bajaj- VC and MD, Bajaj Group, Harshavardhan Neotia- Chairman, Ambuja Group, Ashok Hinduja- Chairman, Hinduja Group Karan Paul- Chairman, Apeejay Surrendra Group, Arup Roy Choudhury- CMD, NTPC, B. C. Tripathi- CMD, GAIL, Subhalaxmi Panse- CMD, Allahabad Bank, Kishore Biyani- CEO and MD, Future Group, Amit Kalyani- ED, Bharat Forge, Anand Kripalu- MD, Cadbury India Ltd., Shikha Sharma- MD & CEO, Axis Bank Hon’ble Minister from the Departments of Finance, Industry, Urban Development , Housing alongwith the Chief Secretary of the State were present at the ‘Bengal Beckons’ meet. Mithun Chakraborty, Bappi Lahiri, Goutam Ghosh and Prasenjit Chattopadhyay from the Film Industry were also present there.