Author: AITC

West Bengal Chief Minister Ms. MamataBanerjee on Monday said seats that were recently slashed by the Medical Councilof India (MCI) owing to lack of proper infrastructure in the state's medicalcolleges will be restored.

“The MCI had cancelled 1,000 medical seatsin Bengal. We succeeded in restoring 400 of them. We will get back the rest,”she said at an official function here. The number of seats last year was around2,400 and this year only 1,755 are available.

Ms. Banerjee said as many as 131 industrialtraining institutes (ITIs) and 75 polytechnic colleges are on the anvil. Inaddition, she also highlighted the success of the state-run coaching centresfor Indian Administrative Services (IAS) exam.

“We started IAS coaching centre. Two of ourstudents became successful in the IAS (civil services) examination,” she said.

Here is the text of Tapas Pal`s letter tothe party and the media:

To​,

All of you

Some remarks made by me in the heat anddust of the election campaign have caused dismay and consternation. I apologiseunreservedly for them. Whatever the provocation — and there was an attempt atprovocation — those comments should never have been made.

In making them, I have let down myconstituents and the people of Bengal, I have let down my party, the TrinamoolCongress, and my political colleagues, I have let down my family, including mywife and children and my parents, and my friends. I apologise to all of them,and particularly to all women in our society and to those in the media whohighlighted the issue.

I have no excuses to offer. It was a grosserror of judgement and deeply insensitive. It should not have happened. And I assureyou it will not happen again. Once more, a humble apology.

Yours sincerely,

Tapas Paul​

​Member of Parliament

 

cc: Chairperson, All Indian TrinamoolCongress

cc: General Secretary, ​​All IndianTrinamool Congress

cc: National Spokesperson, All IndianTrinamool Congress

cc: Media​

West Bengal Chief Minister Ms. MamataBanerjee Sunday inaugurated the Rath Yatra today at Brigade Parade Ground byperforming the Maha Aarti. International Society for Krishna Consciousness(ISKCON) prganise the 43rd Rath Yatra this year. 

“This year, we have decided to highlightthe life and teachings of Bhaktivinod Thakur and his glorious struggle forKrishna Bhakti who died on 23 June in 1914,” said a senior monk of the ISKCON.

Bhaktivinod Thakur was a noted judge ofKrishnanagar court and a social reformer who later became a disciple of ISKCON.

Around 50 students from IIT Kharagpur andreligious scholars from abroad delivered lectures on life and ideologies ofKedarnath Datta who later became Bhaktivinod Thakur. Around 10,000 students from75 schools assembled at the Brigade Parade Ground.

The Rath Yatra started from Park CircusMaidan and ended at Outram Road. The yatra went via CIT Road, Moulalicrossing, S N Banerjee Road and J L Nehru Road, braving the rains

There was a dance performance bydevotees from Russia and other western countries in front of the chariots atthe Park Circus Maidan. Later prasad was distributed at Brigade Paradeground. Ultarathayatra will start on 7 July from Brigade Parade Ground toAlbert Road.

The state government is planning to come upwith a new branding to promote Bengal as a tourist destination. According tosources in the state secretariat, the tourism department is mulling the optionof engaging professional consultants to come up with a new branding. Theexpression of interest may be floated soon to invite reputable consultants forthis purpose.

The state government had earlier come upwith `Beautiful Bengal` -a short promotional film featuring brand ambassadorShah Rukh Khan. The tourism department has already started tapping social medianetworks like Facebook to promote tourist spots in the state. The department isuploading prominent heritage spots, along with all details, for people to knowabout the state`s heritage past.

Chief Minister Ms. Mamata Banerjee has beengiving much stress to develop tourism in the state. Only recently it wasdecided that an eco-tourism board will be constituted to promote eco-tourismacross the state.

The CM recently instructed forestdepartment officials to work in tandem with the tourism department to set upeco-tourism spots. The tourism department is working on a number of ecotourismprojects in places like Jharkhali and Gazoldoba.

The tourism department is also preparing adetail project report for the proposed tourism circuit from Jangalmahal toSagar Island. It will be placed before the union ministry of tourism forcentral funds. The authorities have also planned to come up with several moretourism circuits across the state.

Moreover, the state government has plannedto introduce the West Bengal Tourism (development and regulation) Act, 2014,and a new incentive scheme for tourism. A preliminary draft has already beenprepared and the final draft could be placed in the winter session of the assembly.

The article was originally published in The Times of India, 30.06.2014

Statement issued by Derek O`Brien, National Spokesperson:

English

The statements made by Mr Tapas Pal are very insensitive. Theparty does not in any way endorse what he said weeks ago, being played out onTV channels today. Tapas Pal will need to provide a written explanation to theparty in 48 hours.

Bengali

তাপস পালের দু মাসপুরনো যে মন্তব্য সংবাদমাধ্যমেদেখানো হচ্ছে সেটি অসংবেদনশীল। তৃণমূলএই বক্তব্যের সাথে সহমত পোষণকরেনা। তাপস পালকে আগামী ৪৮ ঘন্টার মধ্যে লিখিতভাবে দলীয় নেতৃত্ব কে তার বক্তব্যের ব্যাখ্যা দিতে হবে।

Text of the press briefing by Derek O’Brien at Trinamool Bhavan on July 1, 2014 at 4:45 PM:

The party acted fast and with alacritycondemning both the statements. Our leader Mamata Banerjee condemns thestatements and she is deeply pained. Tapas Pal’s explanation is on the TMCwebsite. It is a three-paragraph detailed explanation. The party is examiningif it is enough. The process for disciplinary action has already started.

 

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjeehas congratulated the SC and ST examinees of the Joint Entrance examinationthis year for their success with the help of government-sponsored counsellingcentres all over the state.

“Congratulations and my best wishes to allof them. I want my brothers and sisters to do their best in their careers,”Miss Banerjee said in a Facebook message while assuring these students of allsupport and guidance on behalf of her government.

She said that in a unique initiative by thegovernment for SC and ST Joint Entrance examinees, the government had set up 20counselling centres in 18 districts including Kolkata.

Expressing happiness, Miss Banerjee saidthat more than 500 students from these centres had emerged successful inEngineering or Medical or Pharmacy disciplines in the Joint Entranceexamination.

Stating that more than 600 studentsattended the classes in these counselling centres, Miss Banerjee said thatregular assessments by senior faculty including the state government officialswere held and the students were provided stipends in support of their studies.

The state government has decided to put inplace an online mechanism for six urban bodies in North 24 Parganas forclearing mutation and building plans. The decision was taken in order to makethe mutation process more simple and hassle free. Mr Firhad Hakim, state UrbanDevelopment Minister said that a single web based window for mutation andbuilding plans will help the people get their mutation plan  cleared within seconds.

Presently this pilot project will be rolledout in six municipalities in the state – New Town Kolkata DevelopmentAuthority, Bidhannagar Municipality, Nabadiganta Development Authority, SouthDum Dum Municipality and North Dum Dum Municipality.

Mr Hakim said that if the pilot projectcould be rolled out successfully in these six municipalities then they willalso provide such technical support to all the wards under Kolkata MunicipalCorporation.

In the recently amended law of the urbandevelopment department, development authorities have been given the power fordoing mutation works of the buildings too and thus it`s easy for the residentswho reside in the municipalities to do their mutation if the service has beenmade online. Presently, residents who stay at the municipality have to wait inlong queues to get their mutation and building plans clear and it takes arounda week to clear such plans.

However, with the online system, thesetasks can be accomplished in a matter of minutes. It may be mentioned that theurban development department has brought an amendment so that owners of illegalapartments cannot carry out mutation of the property which they have occupied.The existing rules allow a person to apply for mutation of a property byproducing a copy of the registered sale deed in the absence of a sanctionedplan. The amendment may also help prevent legalization of illegal structures.