Speculation over Mamata, Amar, Pranab meet

Kolkata (PTI),19th October: Speculation is rife over an impending political realignment in West Bengal ahead of the Lok Sabha elections following a meeting between Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in Delhi.

Banerjee and Singh went to Mukherjee's residence in the national capital on Friday night after addressing a rally at Jaminagar and was with him for about an hour, sources in the Trinamool Congress and Congress said here on Saturday.

A state Congress leader, who did not want to be named, said, "the issue of a possible alliance between the Trinamool Congress and Congress obviously figured in the discussions."

The leader pointed out that Mamata has been jointly organising programmes with the SP general secretary and has distanced herself from the NDA for quite quite some time now.

He said even BJP leader leader Sushma Swaraj had also said Mamata was no longer in the NDA.
West Bengal Congress working president Subrata Mukherjee told PTI, "I cannot say right now whether there is any possibility of political realignment out of Mamata's meeting with Pranabda. I have not talked to Pranabda as yet. So I cannot say anything about it."

Banerjee was quoted by a Bengali daily here as saying "I and Amarda met Pranabda, only to demand institution of a judicial probe into the Jamianagar encounter by the Centre through him."

JSW Steel project on schedule in West Bengal

Kolkata, Oct 16 (IANS) : The foundation stone laying ceremony of JSW Steel Ltd’s proposed 10-million-tonne steel plant in Salboni in West Bengal will be held Nov 2 as scheduled, a top official said here Thursday.”The Bengal project is right on track and we are sticking to our earlier announced schedule. It is our expansion project at Bellary that might get delayed following recent developments in the financial markets,” JSW Steel managing director Biswadip Gupta said.

Earlier, there had been some apprehension about a possible delay in executing the West Bengal project following the recent comment of Sajjan Jindal about the non-completion of the financial closure of the project.

In the Bellary unit, the company is planning to raise capacity from 3.8 million tonnes to six million tonnes.

“External Affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee and Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee will attend the foundation stone laying programme,” Gupta said.

JSW has already completed acquisition of 4,800 acres for the project.

We are committed to West Bengal: Apeejay

Kolkata, Oct 17: Refuting rumours on relocating the Rs 2,000 crore (USD 500 million) Bengal Shipyard Ltd ship building project from West Bengal to Orissa, Apeejay-Surendra Group Chairman Karan Paul on Friday said he was committed to the state and no such decision has been taken. "We are committed to the state and there is nothing like any deadline. The Bengal government is supportive about the project," Paul said here.

He, however, said there was some 'misunderstanding' regarding land acquisition. The project would require close to 500 acre and the company would directly negotiate with farmers and land owners. "We have already begun direct talks and will do more if direct talks work better. We are open to both government and direct land acquisition models," he said.

At present, the two parties--West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) and the Haldia Development Authority are close to acquiring 293 acres of the total 494 acres of land needed for the project. The comapny would set up a modern shipbuilding yard along India's eastern coast to manufacture ships of capacity ranging from 100,000 dwt to 250,000 dwt. Bengal Shipyard Ltd is a 50:50 joint venture between Appeejay group's unlisted Apeejay Shipping Ltd and Bharati Shipyard Ltd.

Zeenews Bureau Report

West Bengal to become seat of Italian studies

KOLKATA: West Bengal is all set to become a seat of Italian studies with 11 universities from that country about to sign a composite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with four State universities for exchange programmes. Under the MoU Italian language, philosophy and political studies will be taught at the designated universities here.

The exchange programme will also facilitate the teaching of Bengali literature, especially that of Tagore, as well as music, choreography and synchronisation techniques at the 11 Italian universities, Bruno Campria, Consul General of the Italian Consulate, said. He will sign the MoU on November 7 on behalf of the Italian universities. This was being done as part of an initiative of the Italian Consulate in the city.

“There is a widespread interest in the literature of Rabindranath Tagore as well as the Bengali language among the Italian students who will now be able to study them in their own country,” Mr. Campria told The Hindu here on Saturday.

Film being an integral part of showcasing the cultural diversity of any region, organising Bengali film festivals at the Italian universities is also a part of the exchange programme. The open format of the text of the MoU will enable other universities interested in joining the exchange programme subsequently without going through the diplomatic labyrinth.

Mr. Campria said the Consulate wants India-Italian ties in the eastern part of the country to extend beyond the boundaries of economic relationship. “Cooperation carried out in the shape of specific executive projects dealing with common interests like culture and academics will help strengthen the bilateral ties.”