Railways will set up Bankim research centre, if state cannot: Mamata

October 14th, 2009 KOLKATA - Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee Wednesday welcomed the government's decision to look into the issue of bribes paid by some US firms to Indian government officials. "I welcome the initiative taken up by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

September 20th, 2009 KOLKATA - Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee Sunday announced here that her ministry would take an initiative to upgrade the existing South Eastern Railway (SER) Hospital into a well-equipped medical college. "The SER Hospital will be developed with all modern facilities and it will soon be converted into a medical college.

September 13th, 2009 KOLKATA - Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee Sunday alleged that West Bengal's ruling Communists are "conspiring" against the Indian Railways and said "they will be responsible if any accident occurred". "The CPI-M is constantly conspiring against the railways.

September 12th, 2009 KOLKATA - Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee Saturday said that her ministry has already begun an austerity drive and taken several cost-cutting measures to reduce additional expenditure. "I'd issued an order to cut all additional expenditure and it's already been implemented in the railways," Banerjee said while flagging off two new trains -- Sealdah-Ajmirsharif Express and Farakka-Nabadwip Express -- from Sealdah station here.

August 12th, 2009 KOLKATA - Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee Wednesday named an Eastern Railway (ER) open theatre after Bengali theatre icon Sambhu Mitra and sanctioned Rs.35 million for the overall development of the amphitheatre as a cultural platform in Kolkata's twin district Howrah. "Indian Railways have at least 1.4 million staff and we've schools, colleges for the children of our employees.

July 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Saturday said the country was awaiting the white paper promised by Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee on the railways' performance in the last five years. Banerjee told parliament July 3 that she would come out with a white paper on the actual performance of the railways in the past five years when Lalu Prasad headed the ministry.

July 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee Thursday said her ministry would look at providing infrastructure and land for setting up Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). "We might even look at building IITs in the future," Banerjee told the Lok Sabha in a discussion on the railway budget.

July 7th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Jaitley Tuesday criticised Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee for taking the Indian Railways into "non-core areas", and said that will threaten its economical and social viability. "The fundamental principle of any efficient management is to concentrate on core area of competence and ignore all non-essential and non-core activities," Jaitley said while participating in a discussion on the railway budget in the Rajya Sabha.

July 7th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tuesday asked Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee "not to make Indian Railways an East India Company and alleged that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has favoured West Bengal at the cost of many other states in the rail budget. "India is not (West) Bengal.

July 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Praising Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee's budget Friday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said she had done a "very competent job" and had not just ensured that there was no burden on the passengers but also taken care of their safety. Banerjee had done a "very competent job in a short period of time.

July 3rd, 2009 HYDERABAD - Andhra Pradesh Friday conveyed its unhappiness to Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee over the raw deal the state has received in the 2009-10 railway budget. The Congress government in the state feels that injustice has been done to the state as the budget proposed no new projects for the state except a superfast train between Visakhaptnam and Mumbai and development of Secunderabad and Tirupati railway stations.

June 14th, 2009 HOWRAH - The Indian Railways will run 66 pairs of special trains carrying pilgrims to Puri in Orissa for the June 24 Rathyatra festival, railways minister Mamata Banerjee said here Sunday. The railways will also run special trains between Sealdah in Kolkata and Rajasthan's Ajmer Sharif, which houses the mausoleum of sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti, on June 25 and June 26 for the celebration of the Urs or annual pilgrimage.

June 14th, 2009 HOWRAH - Known for being the voice of the voiceless, Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday ordered officials to reduce the exorbitant price range of food available on board a new express train. Banerjee, who arrived here to flag off the Kandari Express between Howrah and the tourist resort of Digha in East Midnapore district, expressed annoyance over the price-chart, saying she "didn't agree with it".

June 7th, 2009 KOLKATA - Railway passengers should be more vigilant about their own security while commuting, Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee said Sunday night. "People, mainly the railway commuters, should be more vigilant about the security matter.

March 14th, 2009 KOLKATA - The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Friday fielded a woman candidate against Mamata Banerjee for the Lok Sabha's Kolkata South seat after Trinamool Congress snapped ties with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to team up with the Congress in West Bengal. BJP sources here said the party's state Mahila Morcha (women's wing) president Jyotsna Banerjee has been nominated for the prestigious constituency.