Extended budget session begins today

Kolkata:The extended Budget session of the state Assembly will begin on Friday with 14 bills to be placed in the House. “Altogether,14 bills will be placed in the House during the session which will continue for a month,” Speaker Biman Bandyopadhyay said here on Thursday. Some of the Bills to be tabled include the Indian Stamp (West Bengal Amendment) Bill 2010,West Bengal Town and Country (Planning and Development) Amendment Bill,2012,Howrah Improvement Amendment Bill,2012,and West Bengal Backward Classes (other than SC and ST) Reservation of vacancies in services and posts Bill 2012 among others. The Indian Stamp (West Bengal Amendment) Bill 2010 was passed by the erstwhile Left Front government but the President had returned it asking for two amendments,he said. To a question if the West Bengal Land Acquisition,Rehabilitation and Settlement Bill,2012,would be tabled during the session,Bandyopadhyay said “it is yet to receive instruction for publication”.

Mitra calls for 20% growth in agri sector

Kolkata:Launching a website of the West Bengal Agro Industries Corporation on Thursday,Finance minister Amit Mitra said the state should aim at 20 per cent growth in the agriculture sector with proper strategies and plans in place. Noting that the growth rate had in recent years dipped to 7.8 per cent,Mitra recalled that agriculture had clocked a growth rate of 17.5 per cent between 1965 and 1975.