Tag: CM

WB CM pays tribute to slain BSF jawan

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West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday paid floral tribute to BSF jawan Subhendu who died fighting Pakistan militants involved in the Udhampur terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir on August 5.

The body of Subhendu, a resident of Dhupguri in Jalpaiguri district, arrived at the Bagdogra airport where the chief minister and senior BSF officials paid floral tribute to him.

Later, Subhendu’s body was handed over to his family.

Subhendu and another jawan Rockey had laid down their lives while fighting terrorists during an attack on a BSF convoy on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway in Udhampur district on Wednesday.

She had tweeted:

Wish you a successful visit to UK: David Cameron to Mamata Banerjee

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UK PM David Cameron, who could not be in London because of a foreign visit, sent a letter to West Bengal Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee on Monday apologising for his absence.

“I fondly recall our meeting in Kolkata in November 2013 when we discussed the positive UK-West Bengal bilateral cooperation that exists and the wealth of trade and investment opportunities this offers. I am delighted that you will be visiting London to see these opportunities first hand. I am sorry that due to my travel plans I will not be in London to see you in person. I wish you a successful and rewarding visit which will help forge the close ties between UK and Bengal,” reads an excerpt from the letter.

Interestingly, it was Mr Cameron who first invited Mamata to the UK. In 2013, during his first term as PM, Cameron had made a stop to the Indian Institute of Management, Joka (IIM-Joka) and interacted with students for nearly an hour.

WB CM was received by minister Priti Patel, minister of state for employment at the department for work and pensions.

Commenting on the personal letter from Cameron, WB CM tweeted: “21 MoU’s are a good sign of Britain’s partnership with Bengal. I thank him for his good wishes.”

 

The image is from 2013 when PM Cameron met WB CM in Kolkata

Mamata Banerjee fights jet lag – With a walk around in London

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Mamata Banerjee beat her jet-lag in her own quintessential style, by walking around London.

After breakfast at the St James Court – where the Chief Minister of Bengal is staying during her 5-day visit to London – Ms Banerjee decided to take a walk around the streets of London, apparently to beat jet lag. The 7-km walk was done in quintessentially Mamata Banerjee style – rubber flip flops and cotton saree and a shawl to beat the cold winds.

She decided to walk down Victoria Street and led herself into St James Park – no Google maps, no local Londoner to show her the way. That was the way she explored central London.

The walk ended with a visit to a coffee shop. Coffee shops like these were “a must” in Kolkata and may mean more jobs, an official recalled her saying.

The Mayor of Kolkata was said to have a verbal message sent to her through an official was accompanying her. The message: “Please look around London, and see if we can take ideas for the city of Kolkata back with us”.

Back home, the Chief Minister has already started a project to beautify the Hooghly (Ganga) river, taking London’s Thames river as a model.

 

The article was first published in NDTV website

Expect to sign over 20 MoUs in UK: Mamata

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Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday said she was expecting to sign over 20 MoUs during her five-day visit to the United Kingdom.

Mamata Banerjee, who left for UK on Sunday, told media persons: “We hope to attract investment to make West Bengal an ideal destination.”

“In all, around 100 people are going to London. We will sign 22 to 23 MoUs, which will be good for business. We will focus on areas such as infrastructure development, education, health and tourism,” said the CM.

The meetings are scheduled to begin with a conference of British CEOs at the UK India Business Council meet on July 27. She would also attend a meeting of UKIBC and FICCI to discuss various issues related to business opportunities in the state on the same day.

The CM would also meet the Duke of York, Prince Andrew, at the Buckingham Palace. Ms Banerjee would meet British Employment Minister Priti Patel at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office where several MoUs would be signed.

On July 28, she would meet several business delegates, secretaries and partners who would also sign some MoUs. She would pay floral tributes at the statues of Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore.

There would also be a cultural event in the evening at the Natural History Museum.

Govt ready to tackle any situation due to heavy rains: WB CM

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West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Sunday said the administration was prepared to cope with any situation arising due to heavy rains which are predicted in the state in the next 48 hours.

“Already some parts of North 24 Parganas district are waterlogged due to rains yesterday but the administration is working round the clock with the local civic bodies. In the event of further heavy rainfall we are alert to cope with the situation,” the Chief Minister said.

She said the situation will be monitored during her visit abroad and prompt decision will be taken as and when required.Intermittent rains hit the city and different parts of West Bengal in last 24 hours causing water-logging.

Warning has been issued for fisherman going to the sea.

Mamata Banerjee arrives in London for five-day visit

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West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee arrived in London, UK late Sunday night on a five-day tour heading an over 90-member entourage in a bid to attract investment to the state.

The team consists of Finance and Industry Minister Dr Amit Mitra, nearly 50-member business delegation, three Trinamool Congress MPs Derek O’Brien, Sugato Bose and actor Deepak Adhikari (Deb), Kolkata Mayor Sovan Chatterjee and several officials.

ITC chairman Y C Deveshwar, RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group chairman Sanjiv Goenka and Ambuja Neotia Group chairman Harsh Neotia are there in the business delegation.

Industrialist Sanjay Budhia, who is also in the delegation, said he is hopeful that the trip would bring investment in tourism, health and infrastructure sectors.

Mamata Banerjee’s trip to London was finalised following an invitation of British Prime Minister David Cameron. The six-day trip, which will project West Bengal as an ideal destination for investment, would begin with a conference of British CEOs at the UK India Business Council meet on July 27.

She would also attend a meeting of UKIBC and FICCI to discuss various issues related to business opportunities in the state on the same day.

The CM would also meet the Duke of York, Prince Andrew, at the Buckingham Palace. Ms Banerjee would meet British Employment Minister Priti Patel at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office where several MoUs would be signed.

On July 28, she would meet several business delegates, secretaries and partners who would also sign some MoUs. She would pay floral tributes at the statues of Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore.

There would also be a cultural event in the evening at the Natural History Museum.

WB CM wishes the President on completing 3 years in office

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West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Chairperson Ms Mamata Banerjee today wished the President of India on completing three years in office.

Taking to the mico-blogging platform Twitter, Ms Banerjee wrote, “Good wishes to the President of India on the day he completes 3 years in office. Wishing him happiness and good health.”

To mark this occasion, two volumes of the President’s selected speeches and two books on Rashtrapati Bhavan will be released. The books are titled “Abode under the Dome” and “Right of the Line: The President’s Bodyguard (1773-2015)”.

About 200 guests have been invited for the event, which will be followed by a cultural programme and then dinner at 8 PM.

Mamata Banerjee’s tweet greetings to the President:

Investment Bengal

WB CM to promote Bengal as an investment destination in UK

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Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wants to improve the image of Bengal globally and market the rich human resource of the state during her trip to UK.

Mamata Banerjee had an informal meeting with the members of the delegation, who will accompany her to UK, at Nabanna on Thursday . The Chief Minister made it clear that she does not have any special expectation from the trip and argued that unless the state’s image gets an uplift nothing can be done.

“No one has done anything for the image of our state. It was negative when I started, even if we can achieve 30% that will be a good achievement,” Mamata Banerjee said, adding that she would try to market Bengal as the human resource capital of India.

“Even globally, so many Bengalis are working. We should showcase this,” she added.

23 MoUs to be signed

Most of the 23 MoUs to be signed in the UK will be related to train human resources in the fields of health and education. Besides, there will be special emphasis on transport and other infrastructure.

Mamata Ba nerjee pointed out that work has already started on some of the MoUs signed in Singapore and during the Bengal Global Business Summit in January this year.

The delegation

The CM will be accompanied by 50 industrialists from Kolkata and other cities. Some top industrialists of the country have also confirmed their participation.

Chairman of Apollo Tyres Onkar Kanwar, director of Apollo Hospitals Sangita Reddy , Videocon Group director Anirudh Dhoot and Matix chairman Nishant Kanodia have recently confirmed their participation. Earlier, the Lalit Group chairman J Suri, GEECL chairman Y K Modi and Adi Godrej had confirmed participation.

Y C Deveshwar, chairman of ITC, said: “I am confidant that there will be a positive impact. The radical reforms undertaken in the field of ease-of-doing business should be showcased in UK.”

Besides the ITC chairman, others present at Thursday’s meeting were CII president Sumit Mazumdar, Assocham vice president Sunil Kanoria, Tata Metaliks MD Sanjiv Paul, Apeejay Group chairman Karan Paul, Keventer MD Mayank Jalan, Patton MD Sanjay Budhia, Luxmi Tea CEO Rudra Chatterjee, BAPL director Utsav Parekh and others.

During the four-day trip, Mamata will have a few closed-door meetings along and visit the Buckingham Palace and Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). She will meet UK minister of employment Priti Patel at FCO.

More than 100 companies register to hear Mamata Banerjee in London

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The interest in Bengal among British business houses has shot through the roof.

Patricia Hewitt, the chair of the UKIBC, on whose invitation chief minister Mamata Banerjee is coming to London on Monday on her three-day visit, said that over 100 British conglomerates, ranging from retail and mining to banking, have now confirmed to attend the session on emerging opportunities in Bengal.

Renewed interest in Bengal

“I am very pleased by the turnout.The session will give the UK business houses a chance to hear directly from the government and from business honchos of Bengal who are travelling with the CM on what the business climate there is at present and the opportunities,” she said.

Hewitt, added that she is certain that Bengal will become a Mecca for British business houses in the next 3-5 years.

She added: “The British companies are impressed that the CM herself is coming. The positive messages from the Bengal investor summit in January which we relayed to our members and the fact that she is coming with a very serious business delegation is very helpful. The impressive business delegation from Bengal would be the best advocates of the business climate in the state“.

Positive image

According to Hewitt, around 20 British companies at present are functioning in Bengal -from HSBC and Standard Chartered to BT, Max Bupa, OCS and KPMG.

Hewitt said, “This is actually the first investor road show from India being led by a CM. It is very important that Bengal is seen as a business friendly destination and overcomes its negative perception. This visit will open up a whole new opportunity for the state.”

She admitted that she has seen a “very obvious change at the Bengal business summit“ in January. “Work was going on to make the state investor friendly. Over the last year, we have seen real moves on ease of doing business and on simplifying tax systems.”

Praise for the CM

Patricia Hewitt was all praise for Mamata Banerjee herself. “She is a consummate political leader and has an extra ordinary ability to connect to people.Personal warmth and empathy are her strengths. She and I connected strongly when we met in Bengal in January and we have a personal bond.”

Mamata help for Bengali course in UK

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A top British institute, which has been teaching Bengali for about 100 years, is set to get a helping hand from Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in running the course.

WB CM will announce a string of scholarships for students willing to study Bengali at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), a premier institute under University of London, when she visits UK later this month.

She is expected to make the announcement while paying her homage to Rabindranath Tagore at Gordon Square in central London, near which SOAS is also located. SOAS has been teaching Bengali language ever since its inception 99 years ago.

The study of Bengali language and literature, and of Bengali history , society and culture, has a long history at SOAS, dating back to the foundation of the institute in 1916. The first London University post in Bengali had been established at the University College of London in the 1850s and it was presumably moved to SOAS when the school was established.