The Mamata Banerjee-government in West Bengal is leaving no stone unturned to make the February 28 strike a flop show. The chief minister has asked the administration as well as her party to ensure that normal life is not disrupted in the state on Tuesday. She also instructed the administration to ensure normal attendance of the state government employees on that day.

Rattled by severe public and media criticism over her hasty comments on Park Street rape case while the investigation was still on, chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday embarked on a damage control exercise.

The state government on Monday made it clear that it would not forward Infosys’ application to the Centre on granting IT SEZ (special economic zone) status to the company’s proposed facility at New Town-Rajarhat. Instead, the state government is working on alternative facilities for the IT major.

State finance minister Amit Mitra on Monday rejected Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi’s statement that the Centre had given `8,000 crores package to the Mamata Banerjee government.

The Congress has paid the price for criticising its big brother Trinamul Congress in the ruling alliance in West Bengal. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday reshuffled her council of ministers and reportedly axed Manoj Chakraborty (who recently attacked the Trinamul Congress) as minister of state for parliamentary affairs and micro and small-scale enterprises and textiles departments.

While launching Nano in the Auto Expo in New Delhi in January 2008, Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata had said that one of the names suggested for this car was “Despite Mamata”.

With an eye on the coming rural polls, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has decided to replace panchayat affairs and rural development minister Chandranath Sinha by Subrata Mukherjee. Mr Sinha will be given the minister of statistics and programme implementation department.

The days of “courtesy politics” between the Mamata Banerjee-government and the Opposition Left Front seems to be over after the government completed 200 days in the office. One allegation after another levelled by the state government against the Left Front, particularly the CPI(M), during the winter session of the Assembly, which concluded on Friday soured the relations.

The West Bengal government on Thursday alleged that the CPI(M) was hatching a conspiracy to kill people in the state.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee herself accused the CPI(M) of spreading rumours that water supplied from the Nodakhali water supply project in South 24 Parganas was poisoned.

What seems to come as a surprise to even most of the Trinamul Congress leaders, Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata commended the “swift and firm action” of chief minister Mamata Banerjee in wake of the fi